Pope declares day of fasting and prayer for South Sudan, DRC

Pope Francis has declared February 23 a day of fasting and prayer for crisis-ridden South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The Pope appealed to those who are faithful to seek spiritual intervention by fasting and praying for peace. The Holy Father has also invited non-Catholic faithful to play a part in the search for peace in the two countries and around the world.

The Head of the global Anglican Church, Justin Welby, reiterated the Pope’s message and called for peace in the two nations. Welby also shared experiences of what he saw in previous trips to DRC and South Sudan.

“On my visits to both countries in recent years, it’s been impossible to describe the overwhelming scale of destruction. These conflicts are causing terrible loss of life. Huge numbers of people have been forced to flee their homes, which is tearing apart families and communities,” said Welby. “There are more than a million new internally displaced people. Famine is causing great suffering and danger. In South Sudan, up to 6 million people face starvation. Sexual violence and humiliation are being committed on the most atrocious scale in both countries.”

The conflict in South Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than two million, while the situation in DRC hinges on President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to leave power, despite calls from the opposition and human rights activist.

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Hundreds of child soldiers released in South Sudan

More than 300 child soldiers were released by armed groups in South Sudan, the second-largest such release since civil war began five years ago.

The “laying down of the guns” ceremony for 87 girls and 224 boys was the first step in a process that should see at least 700 child soldiers freed in the coming weeks, the United Nations said. The released children will be reunified with their families and given three months’ worth of food assistance and psychosocial support, along with the opportunity to go to school.

Over 19,000 children are thought to have been recruited by all sides. The U.N. has released almost 2,000 child soldiers so far. More than 10 percent of them have been under age 13.

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Child Abductions Rise as South Sudan War Incites Desperation

Child abductions among rival tribes have increased during South Sudan’s civil war as desperate people try to make a living amid widespread hunger and a devastated economy.

“Child abductions and trafficking in South Sudan is a real issue that requires an urgent response by the government,” said Edmund Yakani, executive director of the nonprofit Community Empowerment for Progress Organization.

Although inter-clan fighting, cattle raiding and abductions are deep-seated throughout this country, Yakani called it a particular problem in the town of Akobo, where many in the Murle tribe base “their livelihood” on selling children.

During a recent trip to Akobo, The Associated Press spoke with Murle tribesmen who acknowledged stealing and trafficking children for personal gain.

“The intention is to trade the children for cattle or use them personally,” said Thiro Akungurouth, a Murle youth leader who knows some of the abductors.

One child, no matter what his or her age, can sell for 20 cows, worth about $7,000, he said. Children who aren’t sold are kept by families without kids while girls are groomed for marriage, Akungurouth said.

Authorities in Akobo said 37 children have been seized in the surrounding areas since 2016, more than in the first three years of the war combined. It was not clear how many children have been abducted across the country during the civil war.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-02-04/child-abductions-rise-amid-south-sudans-grinding-civil-war

UN Refugee Chief Calls for Peace in South Sudan

The ratio of South Sudanese refugees to local residents in the Ugandan Imvempi refugee settlement is now 1 to 4, according to the U.N. refugee agency.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi visited the settlement and made an appeal to the warring factions in South Sudan.

“Please make peace. We can’t subject these people once again to exile, to suffering. We can’t always take for granted the generosity of the Ugandan people. Really, we must ensure that peace comes, because everybody told me this morning, as in the past, ‘If there’s peace I will go back, because this is where I belong. It’s my country.’ “

Uganda is currently hosting 1.3 million refugees, nearly all of them from South Sudan

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Why peace continues to elude South Sudan

Peacebuilding attempts in South Sudan appear to be on the brink of collapse, as violence and the conflict’s chaotic and ever-shifting fault lines already threaten to topple a three-week-old truce.

What began as a two-way fight has become fractured amidst rebel infighting, splinter groups and defections, making it harder to pin down a peace agreement with widespread credibility. The ceasefire signed in mid-December was supposed to put a stop to the fighting in what is one of the world’s most deadly ongoing conflicts. However, it seems to be wearing thin following a number of deadly clashes for which government forces and rebels blame each other.

The US, UK and Norway, which brokered the ceasefire, have called on all parties involved in the conflict to stop breaking the truce and threatened to impose sanctions on those violating the ceasefire. Although threats of sanctions appear to have had some weight in the past, defections and power struggles have plagued the peacebuilding effort for some time and shows no sign of abating today.

With the current leadership, it’s hard to build peace in South Sudan, says Meressa Dessu, a researcher and training coordinator at security think-tank ISS Africa, who has worked on the UN peace mission in the country. Dessu says the government signed the deal “for the sake of playing the game”.

This week the government declared the army’s chief of staff, General Paul Malong Awan, a rebel, accusing him of responsibility for several attacks last week. In a released statement, the general accused the security services and presidential aides of making a scapegoat of him in order to maintain tensions in South Sudan, their only means of retaining power.

Yet again, the intrigue could lead to more violence.

https://www.theworldweekly.com/index.php/reader/view/magazine/2018-01-11/why-peace-continues-to-escape-south-sudan/10450/

Sudan Hopes for Sanctions Repeal as Deadline Looms

With the clock ticking on an impending Oct. 12 deadline for the permanent lifting of U.S.-imposed sanctions on Sudan, Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour arrived in Washington in an attempt to clinch the deal with U.S. authorities.

About 50 other members of the Sudanese community from all over the U.S. gathered outside the Capitol to urge the Trump administration to keep sanctions on Khartoum. The sanctions bar trade between Sudan and the U.S and put some economic restraints on Sudanese leaders.

In January, then-President Barack Obama tentatively lifted elements of U.S. economic pressure on Sudan as a reward for improved behavior from the once-rogue regime. Obama highlighted improvements, but he made the final lifting of sanctions contingent on continued compliance by Khartoum over a six-month review period.

In July, the Trump administration extended the review period, citing a need for more time.

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Sudanese-American Human Rights Activist Writes an Open Letter to President Trump

Simon Aban Deng is a former Sudanese slave, a human rights activist, and an American citizen living in the United States. . Now a free man, he is determined to use that freedom to advocate for peace and prompt the Trump Administration to help end slavery and genocide

In an open letter to President Donald Trump, Simon provides counsel on the grave situation in South Sudan. He discusses how the world’s newest nation is the only country in Africa that is currently blocking Islamic extremism from flooding southward to overtake the entire continent.

Without US engagement, Simon says there would be no South Sudan today, and without its leadership again, there may not be a South Sudan in the near future.

The only hope that Southern Sudanese have now, according to Simon, is the leadership of President Trump when it comes to preventing the further spread of extremist Islam from overrunning all of Africa. The situation is still salvageable, with America’s help.

Click here to read the open letter.