Bishop in South Sudan appeals for food amid continued atrocities

Displaced South Sudanese are pictured in a file photo waiting at a World Food Program outpost where thousands have taken shelter in Malakal, South Sudan. (Credit: Denis Dumo/Reuters via CNS.)

NAIROBI, Kenya — The bishop of a diocese in South Sudan is appealing for food as his region in the county’s south has been hit by rebel atrocities.

In a video message, Bishop Alex Lodiong Sakor Eyobo of Yei said the militant Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition had committed atrocities, particularly in Morobo County, within Central Equatoria state.

“The people are fleeing the affected areas due to these meted out atrocities by these militant rebels,” the bishop said. He mentioned rape, murder and the burning of food storage facilities.

He stressed the fleeing people were in dire need of food.

“Humanitarian organizations really need to respond to these people fast to make sure that our brothers and sisters are rescued from that condition created by our own people,” said Sakor Eyobo.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition is a mainly South Sudanese political party and rebel group. In 2013, it split from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement due to political tensions between President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar, tensions that eventually led to the outbreak of civil war in 2013.

A September report from the Famine Early Warning System noted that conflict, flooding, and macroeconomic challenges are widespread across South Sudan, with many areas worse than Central Equatoria. It said that despite the government’s re-commitment to the peace deal in late August, “conflict and insecurity continue to threaten lives and livelihoods across South Sudan by displacing populations and disrupting household access to food and income sources.”