Sanday Chongo Kabange in Hong Kong
Authorities heading Africa's newest state - South Sudan - have been asked to curb the escalating hostilities that have displaced thousands and left more others in fear of militia. A violent wave of unrest has gripped South Sudan's remote town of Pipor in Jonglei state and humanitarian agencies fear for the worst if the situation was not brought under control.
Thousands of civilians are reported to have been displaced or left homeless after they left Pipor for safer sanctuaries.
Christian Aid - an international aid group - has begun assisting civilians displaced by the recent spate of inter-communal violence in Pipor and has called for a swift end to escalating hostilities.
The government in Juba declared Jonglei a ’humanitarian disaster area’ and has appealed for international assistance to help end the crisis.
“There can be no meaningful development or any sustainable nationhood unless fundamental issues which affect the essence of interdependence and peaceful co-existence between different ethnic communities in South Sudan are addressed,” Yitna Tekaligne country manager for Christian Aid, Sudan and South Sudan said.
The United Nations estimates that more than 60,000 people have been displaced by the latest round of armed conflict between two ethnic groups, the Lou Nuer and Murle.
Most civilians needing assistance have been living in the bush for approximately two weeks – many without access to life-sustaining necessities.
This latest round of violence in Jonglei erupted following a series of cattle raids and child abductions.
The longstanding tensions are fuelled by decades of underdevelopment and the proliferation of small arms in the state, the biggest in South Sudan.
The emergency in Jonglei is only the most recent example of several ongoing humanitarian challenges stemming from inter-communal and inter-ethnic conflict in the world’s youngest country, which officially gained statehood in July 2011.
Authorities heading Africa's newest state - South Sudan - have been asked to curb the escalating hostilities that have displaced thousands and left more others in fear of militia. A violent wave of unrest has gripped South Sudan's remote town of Pipor in Jonglei state and humanitarian agencies fear for the worst if the situation was not brought under control.
