South Sudan - the escape in hopes of shelter

Written by Francesco Biatchinyi

South Sudan stands as the youngest country on Earth, gaining independence from Sudan on July 9, 2011, after a long and deadly period of civil war. Now, South Sudan has 4.3 million displaced people, with 1.6 million having fled to neighboring countries and 63% of all displaced individuals being below the age of 18. Since 2013, new violence has emerged in South Sudan that has forced millions of its new citizens to flee from the country in hopes for safer environments.

In a ten day visit to South Sudan by UN experts in late November 2016, reports had concluded accounts of burning villages, starvation among communities, and gang rape all apart of the atrocities that had been seen in the newly born country. At this point, UN experts had warned that action must be taken to prevent an escalation of the situation to reach a point of genocide, as seen in other African countries such as Rwanda.

The origin of the conflicts with South Sudan may come as shocking to many, as South Sudan had experienced violence for 22 years up until it’s independence in 2011. Unfortunately, with more than 60 ethnic groups in South Sudan, conflicts had started to rise only 2 years after its official date of independence. Different ethnic groups had come to the agreement to set aside tensions for the greater good of the country and in celebration of its independence, but to no avail, underlying ethnic tensions loomed over the country which strongly impacted its organizational structure to build a new country.

With prospects for a new growing nation, South Sudan is still amidst a humanitarian crisis 11 years later. A number of peace agreements have been signed during the conflicts, which have all been breached. The overall rate of violence has decreased in South Sudan, but the flow of displaced people still remains high with several outbreaks of violence commonly recurring. With the economy in crisis, as well as famine taking hold of many regions in the country, individuals who wish to return to their previous homes struggle to make a living due to these conditions. Because of this, displacement still remains high.

With many indicators of escalating violence in the country, the international community has failed to come to terms in hopes of creating a better future for South Sudan. Taking the focus of France, the French government had donated €500,000 to help South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia. Currently, the French government works with NGO’s to assist the resettlement of said refugees within French territory. With this, France only sees an estimate of a few hundred refugees every few months coming from South Sudan.

Around 2.3 million individuals are said to have fled to neighboring countries such as Ethiopia, DRC, Kenya, Uganda, and more. The sole number of refugee displacement in South Sudan labels this crisis as the largest refugee crisis in Africa. Many, if not all of these displaced individuals will flee with no family and no supplies or materials. 6 in 10 of these individuals are children who are below the age of 18. With the large majority of displaced people being women and children, a large portion of these people will retain trauma from these experiences having an almost permanent effect on their lives.

If you wish to help improve the situation in South Sudan, multiple verified organizations can be found providing services such as emergency food aid, special nutrition treatment, support for food security, and more, in assistance to help support the displaced people in South Sudan. If you would like to learn more on this topic, you may contact the Esprit de Corps project.

Bibliography

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“South Sudan Refugee Crisis Explained.” How to Help Refugees - Aid, Relief and Donations, https://www.unrefugees.org/news/south-sudan-refugee-crisis-explained/.

“South Sudan Refugee Crisis: Aid, Statistics and News: USA FOR UNHCR.” South Sudan Refugee Crisis: Aid, Statistics and News | USA for UNHCR, https://www.unrefugees.org/emergencies/south-sudan/.

“South Sudan.” UNHCR Canada, 4 Jan. 2022, https://www.unhcr.ca/our-work/emergencies/south-sudan/.

“UN Human Rights Experts Says International Community Has an Obligation to Prevent Ethnic Cleansing in South Sudan.” UNMISS, 30 Nov. 2016, https://unmiss.unmissions.org/un-human-rights-experts-says-international-community-has-obligation-prevent-ethnic-cleansing-south.