https://arab.news/zbc6a
- Protracted fighting piling pressure on already stretched resources, South Sudan鈥檚 top diplomat at UN tells Arab News
- Akuei Bona Malwal claims authority of AU being undermined, African solutions to African crises ignored
NEW YORK CITY: Conflict and mass displacement in Sudan pose a threat to South Sudan鈥檚 limited humanitarian resources and brittle peace, Akuei Bona Malwal, the country鈥檚 permanent representative to the UN, has told Arab News.
Twelve years after gaining independence from its northern neighbor, South Sudan continues to face challenges of its own, with millions displaced to neighboring countries, including Sudan, to escape poverty and instability.
Akuei Bona Malwal, Sudan's permanent representative to the UN. (AN photo)
Now the violent power struggle in Sudan is forcing hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese living there to return en masse, alongside huge numbers of Sudanese and other nationalities, piling pressure on South Sudan鈥檚 already stretched humanitarian resources.
鈥淭here are two aspects to the humanitarian crisis,鈥� Malwal told Arab News during a special interview in New York City.
鈥淔irst, we have close to 2 million South Sudanese citizens who are in Sudan, and in Khartoum, in particular. They are now trying to come back to South Sudan. And this has taken people by surprise.
A violent power struggle in Sudan is forcing people, both locals and foreigners, to flee the country every day, piling pressure on neighbor South Sudan鈥檚 already stretched humanitarian resources. (AFP)
鈥淥ur authorities in the country don鈥檛 have the facilities to accommodate them quickly, and repatriate them to their villages. So, that is actually exhausting the meager facilities that we have.
鈥淎nd then we also have the Sudanese taking refuge in our country (along with) other Africans and other nationalities who are coming to South Sudan because we have opened the door for people to come in to take refuge. So that鈥檚 also a burden on the government.鈥�
Fighting in Sudan began on April 15 between the Sudanese Armed Forces, headed by Sudan鈥檚 de-facto leader Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by Al-Burhan鈥檚 deputy turned rival, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemetti.
The clashes have plunged the country into a humanitarian crisis, with up to 3,000 people killed, according to Sudan鈥檚 minister of health, and more than 1.8 million displaced within Sudan or across its borders, according to the UN. Many have fled to Egypt, Chad and South Sudan, which have issues of their own.
Fueled by intercommunal violence, crime, public health challenges, climate and economic shocks, and poor governance, poverty in South Sudan is ubiquitous. Now it being aggravated by conflict and insecurity.
About 70 percent of South Sudanese live below the poverty line. On the global human development index, South Sudan ranks last. On top of this, the country is also facing its worst flooding in years, and continues to face very high levels of food insecurity.
Sudanese refugees collect water from a tap at the Gorom Refugee near Juba, in South Sudan, on June 20, 2023. (REUTERS)
In 2023, around 10 million South Sudanese, or 76 percent of the population, will need humanitarian assistance in order to survive. And the number continues to increase.
South Sudan鈥檚 fragile stability is also in jeopardy. The country鈥檚 latest peace agreement was signed in 2018, leading to a delicate truce and the formation of the Transitional Government of National Unity in 2020.
Although hostilities between the government and the main opposition have eased, the very logic of the power-sharing agreement has actually contributed to the continuing violence.
The US, which last year suspended its assistance for the peace process monitoring mechanisms, has accused South Sudan鈥檚 leadership of failing to live up to its end of the deal by showing 鈥渁 lack of political will necessary to implement critical reforms.鈥�
The UN Security Council recently voted to extend the arms embargo on South Sudan, citing the country鈥檚 failure to meet the benchmarks stipulated in the peace process, related to security arrangements and disarmament.
Malwal described the extension as 鈥渋ll-intentioned鈥� and 鈥渃ounterproductive,鈥� and said it had been handled in 鈥渂ad faith.鈥�
Akuei Bona Malwal. (Supplied photo)
鈥淭he Americans are angry with the South Sudanese leadership,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey keep using this word that I don鈥檛 like: 鈥榃e midwifed you.鈥� Meaning they helped us become independent, which is true.
鈥淲e are not denying that. But, then, how do I become sovereign now in order to subordinate my independence and my sovereignty to the US, because they have helped us to become independent?
鈥淪imply because we disagree on security, that doesn鈥檛 mean we no longer should be friends or partners. We still want to work with the US.鈥�
鈥淪udan being the current chair of IGAD, and the South Sudanese peace implementation is being monitored by IGAD, this has slowed things down,鈥� he said, referring to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the eight-country African trade bloc headquartered in Djibouti.
鈥淭here are certain things that we are doing on our own. But it is always good to have a functioning regional organization that is actually verifying what we are doing, because certain (members) in the international arena do not think that we are faithfully implementing the peace process.鈥�
Preventing further spillovers into the wider region means quickly resolving the crisis in Sudan. Malwal said his greatest fear is that the fighting will be prolonged, leading to further destruction and displacement.
鈥淚 grew up in Khartoum, and I went to school there,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 sad to see what is happening now. We thought Khartoum should be stable. It was moving forward, actually. And now it has gone back. And it鈥檚 very unfortunate. Sudan is an important country in the region and it should be stable as soon as possible.
鈥淲e knew there were some tensions. The signs were there. But we were hoping for a very smooth transition, because the two generals were actually together. They were allies. And we just didn鈥檛 know, in the last days before the eruption, why it had escalated to where it is. Nobody knows.
鈥淭hat needs to be addressed quickly, because (the fighting) is unnecessary, really. The people of Sudan, and especially the citizens of Khartoum, and the city itself, shouldn鈥檛 be a battlefield.鈥�
Multiple ceasefire agreements have been reached between the warring factions in Sudan, including what became known as the Jeddah Declaration 鈥� the outcome of negotiations led by 萝莉视频 and the US 鈥� who managed to bring the two generals to the negotiating table.
However, every truce to date has been violated.
萝莉视频 and the US warned in a recent joint statement that 鈥渟hould the parties fail to observe the 24-hour ceasefire, facilitators will be compelled to consider adjourning the Jeddah talks.鈥�
Representatives of the Sudanese Armed Forces and its rival Rapid Support Forces prepare to sign the Jeddah Declaration, witnessed by Saudi and US officials, during a ceremony in Jeddah on May 11, 2023. (Supplied)
Malwal echoed the African Union鈥檚 call to unify international peace efforts in order to avoid multiple overlapping initiatives, which could be a 鈥渃omplicating factor.鈥�
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 need to have so many forums for peace negotiations,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen the US and the Saudis managed to bring the generals to the negotiating table, everybody was waiting to see how they would fare, including the UN and IGAD.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why South Sudan President Salva Kiir has said let鈥檚 work behind the scenes while we wait and see what will happen from Jeddah.
鈥淣ow, maybe there is a need for the UN to come in and give IGAD instead the means to deal with the situation and see what happens. Maybe the situation needs a lower approach, rather than a high-profile approach.
This Oct. 3, 2020, photo, shows South Sudan's President Salva Kiir (C) with Sudan's Sovereign Council chairman Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Chad President Idriss Deby during the signing of the South Sudan peace deal in Juba . (AFP)
鈥淎nd that鈥檚 what I think IGAD would be best suited for, because Sudan is a member of IGAD. These are people who know the two generals very well. President Salva Kiir knows the two generals personally.
鈥淗e would bring in Kenya, who is a member of that mediation team. It鈥檚 a very important country in the region. Djibouti is a good friend of Sudan and a member of IGAD. So these are three countries that know these people.
鈥淚 think if they are empowered more to take the lead and to see what they could do, maybe there would be a way of rescuing the situation faster.鈥�
A picture taken on June 16, 2023, shows a covered body across from a military armored vehicle on a street in the West Darfur state capital El Geneina, amid ongoing fighting between two generals in war-torn Sudan. (AFP)
However, Malwal believes the authority of the African Union has been routinely undermined.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been dealing with certain members of the Security Council who are not listening,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 respect 鈥� and I wouldn鈥檛 use that word if I didn鈥檛 know what I鈥檓 talking about 鈥� the decision of the African Union vis-a-vis the issues that concerned African countries.
鈥淵ou cannot say to the AU you鈥檙e a part of this process, and then, when the heads of African states say they are against sanctions on South Sudan and ask for the opportunity to deal with the issue of South Sudan or any other issue, you don鈥檛 say: 鈥楴o, we have our own way of looking at it.鈥�
鈥淲e have moral authority and we are imposing these because our way is the only way that鈥檚 going to resolve this issue. So, I don鈥檛 think the AU is being treated as an equally important organization when it comes to certain issues and, in particular, in South Sudan,鈥� he said.