South Sudan rights official warns of worsening refugee crisis

Half of South Sudan’s estimated 12 million people could become displaced internally or externally by the end of 2017 if a solution isn’t found to South Sudan’s civil war.

The information was revealed on Monday by Beny Geion Mabior, Commissioner of the South Sudan Human rights Commission during a half day seminar by South Sudanese Young Leaders Forum (SSYLF) held at the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

SSYLF was formed by a group of 70 prominent South Sudanese youth in January 2017 in Nairobi, Kenya, to have a common voice to urge warring factions to end the brutal civil war.

Mabior, who’s also a member of SSYLF, says with South Sudan currently facing 830 percent inflation and severe food scarcity, it is urgent for political leaders to end the war or risk South Sudan facing total collapse.

Africa’s newest nation South Sudan has around 2 million internally displaced people in need of food aid with drought and civil war creating a deadly mix.

Another 2 million have fled to neighboring countries, primarily fleeing the brutal conflict that’s been ongoing since December 2013 when clashes between forces broadly loyal to president Salva Kiir and his ex-deputy Riek Machar quickly turned into an allout civil war.

Mario Nakuwa, a founding member of SSYLF, says the euphoria of South Sudan’s independence from Sudan in July 2011 obscured tribal divisions that should have been tackled long ago.

Nakuwa called for urgent dialogue among South Sudanese living at home and in the diaspora to resolve the ongoing civil war. Enditem

Source: Xinhua/NewsGhana.com.gh

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