Jonglei state: 20 children to be reunited with parents
July 12, 2012 (BOR) – Twenty children have been released in Pibor, Jonglei state and are preparing to be reunited with their biological parents as part of the Jonglei communities’ peace resolution.
The children are all aged below ten years.
“We moved from village to village informing the chiefs to collect children taken from other communities during the inter-tribal conflicts,” said Konyi.
“We are hopeful that all abducted children and women will be freed. This is part of implementing Jonglei communities’ peace resolution,” he added in reference to the agreement signed on May 5 in Bor.
The eldest of the twenty children is estimated to be about eight years while the youngest is just below one. Konyi says some children are from Pochalla, Uror as well as from Central and Eastern Equatoria states.
In a related development, a mother nursing a baby girl was handed over to Pibor county authorities today after being airlifted from Bor via UN helicopter. She was abducted in January when members of the Lou-Nuer ethnic group carried out a series of revenge attacks on Pibor villages.
Konyi told reporters in Pibor on Thursday that there is relative peace in the area and that in “the months of June and July, when our people were suffering last year, is now a period of peace and celebration.”
As crowds celebrated the first year of South Sudanese independence with dancing and ululation, upon arrival in Pibor Juuk pledged his government’s commitment to developing the state, where the road network remains problematic.
Jonglei state is a home to pastoralist communities who engage in cattle-raiding that reached a peak late in 2011 and early 2012. A disarmament programme in the state was inaugurated by the South Sudanese President in March which has led to a drop in the number of cattle raiding incidents.
(ST)