Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Juba (Agenzia Fides) - "In the Unity and Upper Nile States the population endures suffering. We experienced war in the past, but the cruelty that we are experiencing today is without equal. It is like living in a nightmare". This is what some southern Sudanese refugees say - who for security reasons prefer to remain anonymous – to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) during the recent visit of a delegation of the pontifical foundation in the youngest state in the world.
Four years since independence - obtained on 9 July 2011 following a popular referendum - South Sudan faces a terrible ethnic conflict that sees the government forces of President Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, oppose those loyal to former Vice President Machar, of ethnic Nuer. The clash, which has been going on since December 2013 has forced more than 2 million people to flee their homes. According to the UN High Commission for Refugees there are more than 850 thousand south Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan and Kenya and at least one and a half million internally displaced persons.
As reported to ACS by some of the 20 thousand civilians from the base of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) of Malakal, the arrival in the camps does not mean the end of a nightmare. "Many refugee women who had moved away to find food for their children were raped and beaten, and some of them never returned. It is like being prisoners in their own Country: the only place in the world where you should feel safe".
Even in refugee camps violence takes place every day and recently, in the mission of Malakal, a man was killed during a shootout. "Armed men were lying in wait and opened fire trying to hit an area of the camp where there were many refugees of ethnic Shilluk".
Even about 90 thousand South Sudanese refugees in Sudan are in the same condition. The government of Omar al-Bashir does not allow the United Nations access to the refugee camps. There are many cases of rapes, robberies and attacks against refugees.
Another difficulty is the lack of registration of refugees. "Sudan does not recognize them that status - local sources tell ACN - because not having accepted the secession of South Sudan, they continue to regard them as citizens who have returned home, obviously without giving them the rights enjoyed by all Sudanese". The absence of a regular registration of refugees obliges the southern Sudanese to work illegally for a paltry salary, while refugee status would guarantee their legal protection and the possibility of obtaining a work permit. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 09/07/2015)
