Photo: Derk Segaar/IRIN
Celebrating the inaugration of the southern parliament in Juba, September 2005
KUAJOK, 21 May 2007 (IRIN) - Anthony Bol Madut, governor of Warrap state in Southern Sudan, could not hide his frustration when he met representatives of European donors on a visit to the remote poverty-stricken region.
"People are dying of cholera in Gogrial and we do not even have roads to take medicines to them," said Madut, emphasising what he considers the neglect of Southern Sudan since the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The accord formally ended civil war between the northern-based Sudanese government and former southern rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army.
Donors and the Sudanese government had promised to make available considerable resources to rebuild the south. There is, however, widespread anger in the region as people wait for what appears to be an elusive peace dividend.
To compound the situation, thousands of former refugees and internally displaced people are flocking to the south to join communities ravaged by poverty and lacking basic social services.
People are dying of cholera in Gogrial and we do not even have a road to take medicines to them
"This is potentially one of the biggest repatriation/return movements Africa would have seen in recent years," said Dennis McNamara, special adviser on internal displacement to the United Nations emergency coordinator. "Hundreds of thousands of people have gone back both spontaneously and some with the assistance of agencies like the United Nations, IOM [International Organization for Migration] and other NGOs."
Lack of facilities
Martin Riech, 14, who returned to Tarkwen village in Western Bahr el-Ghazal state from another county in the same state, where his family sought refuge from war in the 1990s, is so frustrated he sees no point in attending school regularly.
"The school is just a shack divided into two rooms," he said. "There is only one teacher and I have to walk two hours to get there." His family moved from Manyang county, where, he says, he and his two sisters went to a proper school.
"These people are voting with their feet," McNamara added. "What we are very concerned about is that hundreds of thousands of people are going back, in most cases to areas of Southern Sudan that have terrible problems and lack services for the existing populations.
Photo: IRIN
Thousands of former refugees and internally displaced people are flocking to the south
"There are often inadequate water points, inadequate schooling and medical support. There is no real plan for economic development and livelihoods being put in place."
Tong Mayien, 48, his wife Achan and their two toddlers looked bewildered after climbing down from one of the lorries hired by IOM to bring them from Marial Ajit internally displaced people’s camp in Wau town to Kuajok from where they would find their way to their village.
"We have not yet built a home, but my sister who returned earlier has promised to accommodate us," Mayien told IRIN in Kuajok. "We have land and we have been promised farming tools. If I don’t receive the tools, I will go and find some work in the town to raise money to buy my own."
'Invest in the follow-up to peace'
Said McNamara: "Our appeal would be to the donors and UN agencies in particular to mobilise as quickly as possible recovery activities – post-humanitarian, pre-development essential services for this very poor population in an area of the country that has potential.
"There is [river] water, there is good soil available, there is no overpopulation in many parts," he added.
"The governor said: ‘You invested a lot in the peace, but you haven’t invested much in the follow-up to the peace’."
Appealing for more support for the government of Southern Sudan, which is struggling to reintegrate former refugees and those who were displaced by war, Britain’s permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Nicholas Thorne, said the international community was "fixated" with the crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan and paying little attention to Southern Sudan.
Thorne was accompanied on the mission to Southern Sudan by Borsiin Bonnier, Sweden’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, and Claudia Rizzo, counsellor for humanitarian and development affairs at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
The government has also not been spared criticism for its perceived failure to make available more resources for social amenities, including schools, roads, health facilities and water supplies.
Banking on oil
"When you go to Juba, tell our government you went to Warrap and Warrap is lacking everything," said Madut.
You invested a lot in the peace, but you haven't invested much in the follow-up to the peace
Much of the blame is being laid at the door step of the Government of National Unity in Khartoum for its perceived reluctance to fully disclose what is being earned from oil exports. The CPA had provided for the sharing of oil wealth between the north and south.
"We are not sure about the level of petroleum production. We are not sure how much money they are getting," said Mark Nyapuoch Ubong, governor of Western Bahr el-Ghazal state.
He also criticised the World Bank-administered Multi-donor Trust Fund, created for the reconstruction of Southern Sudan after the war, for failing to release funds quickly.
"If we don’t invest in basic support [for the people of Southern Sudan], the danger is that we go back into a humanitarian emergency cycle and that will cost even more - both in terms of human suffering and financially," said McNamara. "Southern Sudan is a success story waiting to happen."
http://www.irnnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72261
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Sanctions against Sudan won’t bring peace in Darfur - China
Wednesday 23 May 2007.
May 22, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — A Chinese envoy warned that threats of sanctions against the Sudanese government will not bring peace to Darfur as he toured the war-wracked western region Tuesday, official media reported.
Refugee girls from Darfur at Breidjing camp, eastern Chad. (©UNHCR/H.Caux)
Liu Guijin, the Chinese foreign ministry’s Africa director, said the language of threats would only prolong the suffering of the 2.5 million people who have been displaced by the four-year-old conflict, the official SUNA news agency said.
Liu pledged that Beijing, Khartoum’s major trade partner, would continue to play a constructive and positive role in seeking a settlement to the conflict, as he visited the region’s main city of El Fasher and nearby displaced persons’ camps, SUNA said.
The Chinese envoy announced in the capital of South Darfur, Nyala, that China would construct 120 schools in Darfur in order to enhance the educational process in the region.
China has drawn mounting Western criticism in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics over its failure to do more to rein in its ally, which stands accused of serious abuses in its suppression of the ethnic minority uprising in Darfur.
At least 200,000 people have died since the rebellion erupted in February 2003, drawing a scorched earth response from the military and allied militias, according to UN estimates.
(AFP/ST)
May 22, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — A Chinese envoy warned that threats of sanctions against the Sudanese government will not bring peace to Darfur as he toured the war-wracked western region Tuesday, official media reported.
Refugee girls from Darfur at Breidjing camp, eastern Chad. (©UNHCR/H.Caux)
Liu Guijin, the Chinese foreign ministry’s Africa director, said the language of threats would only prolong the suffering of the 2.5 million people who have been displaced by the four-year-old conflict, the official SUNA news agency said.
Liu pledged that Beijing, Khartoum’s major trade partner, would continue to play a constructive and positive role in seeking a settlement to the conflict, as he visited the region’s main city of El Fasher and nearby displaced persons’ camps, SUNA said.
The Chinese envoy announced in the capital of South Darfur, Nyala, that China would construct 120 schools in Darfur in order to enhance the educational process in the region.
China has drawn mounting Western criticism in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics over its failure to do more to rein in its ally, which stands accused of serious abuses in its suppression of the ethnic minority uprising in Darfur.
At least 200,000 people have died since the rebellion erupted in February 2003, drawing a scorched earth response from the military and allied militias, according to UN estimates.
(AFP/ST)
Sudan bans reports on Darfur rebel groups
Wednesday 23 May 2007.
May 22, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese press body has banned the local newspapers from publishing news reports related to the rebel groups because they undermine the security in the country.
Tarada, one of Darfur’s top rebel field commanders, center-left wearing a camouflage headscarf, and his bodyguards gather for a milestone unity conference at a secret location in Darfur, Sudan Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2007. (AP)
The National Press and Publications Council Tuesday requested daily newspapers not to publish reports and activities of the rebel movements and not to interview its political leaders and as well as its field commanders.
The council urged newspapers not to “give publicity to the rebel movements and not to report on their threats and statements that undermine country’s security, instigate fear, and create instability”, the statement said.
This ban comes after a statement by one of Darfur rebel to the Khartoum based Al-Sahafa accusing the government forces and its backed militia of killing five civilian in North Darfur two days ago.
The council said all should agree not to give publicity to any rebel group, existing or under establishment, and not to give it a chance to issue false and irresponsible statements.
The Sudanese security service has ordered early today to stop the printing of al-Safaha pretexting that the printing workers did not fulfill an application dedicated to the security apparatus.
(ST)
May 22, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese press body has banned the local newspapers from publishing news reports related to the rebel groups because they undermine the security in the country.
Tarada, one of Darfur’s top rebel field commanders, center-left wearing a camouflage headscarf, and his bodyguards gather for a milestone unity conference at a secret location in Darfur, Sudan Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2007. (AP)
The National Press and Publications Council Tuesday requested daily newspapers not to publish reports and activities of the rebel movements and not to interview its political leaders and as well as its field commanders.
The council urged newspapers not to “give publicity to the rebel movements and not to report on their threats and statements that undermine country’s security, instigate fear, and create instability”, the statement said.
This ban comes after a statement by one of Darfur rebel to the Khartoum based Al-Sahafa accusing the government forces and its backed militia of killing five civilian in North Darfur two days ago.
The council said all should agree not to give publicity to any rebel group, existing or under establishment, and not to give it a chance to issue false and irresponsible statements.
The Sudanese security service has ordered early today to stop the printing of al-Safaha pretexting that the printing workers did not fulfill an application dedicated to the security apparatus.
(ST)
Sudan’s envoy : Darfur “an issue for those who have no issue”
Tuesday 22 May 2007.
By wasil Ali
May 22, 2007 (UNITED NATIONS) — Sudan’s envoy to the UN Abdalhaleem Abdalmahmood blasted a visit by a US congressional delegation to the UN headquarters to discuss the Darfur crisis. Abdalmahmood said he was “disappointed” saying he expected US senator Joseph Biden to “come with clean hands and apologize to the UN for the mess that the US has done in Iraq”.
Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem
Sen. Joseph Biden, the aspiring Democratic nominee for US presidency, headed a bipartisan delegation and met yesterday UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to receive an update on efforts made to resolve the Darfur crisis. Biden, who chairs the US Senate foreign relations committee, said in remarks following the meeting that he would commit US troops to end the Darfur crisis if it was his decision.
Abdalmahmood said that Biden’s discussion of the Darfur crisis is “unwarranted and out of context”. He sharply criticized the international focus on the Darfur crisis saying it has “become an issue for those who have no issue”. Sudan’s UN envoy said that the situation in Darfur is improving on the political and humanitarian track.
A three-phase plan floated last year by then UN chief Kofi Annan is supposed to culminate in the deployment of UN peacekeepers to bolster the embattled African force in Darfur, a region the size of France.
But Khartoum has accepted only the first two stages of the plan, accusing the Western powers of plotting to recolonize the country under the guise of the UN mission. The second phase is supposed to set the infrastructure for the UN-AU hybrid forces as part if the final stage of the plan.
Abdalmahmood said that his government “fully agrees to the second phase without reservations”. He called on the UN & US to authorize funding to the African Union troops so that the second phase can be completed saying that the “ball is in their court now”.
The statements by Sudan’s UN envoy contrasted sharply with that of the UN mission in Sudan (UNMIS) spokesperson Radhia Achouri who said last week that the UN “will help the AU by providing support personnel and equipment but not paying up their budget”. Achouri stressed that “the African Union Mission in Sudan will continue to be financed through donations from member States”.
Abdalmahmood denied UN allegations of bombing raids by Sudan on Umrai calling it “rumors by the National Redemption Front [Darfur rebel faction]”. He said these news are spread by those who want to prolong the sufferings of the Darfur people.
The United Nations says 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced in the Darfur conflict, which flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government.
(ST)
By wasil Ali
May 22, 2007 (UNITED NATIONS) — Sudan’s envoy to the UN Abdalhaleem Abdalmahmood blasted a visit by a US congressional delegation to the UN headquarters to discuss the Darfur crisis. Abdalmahmood said he was “disappointed” saying he expected US senator Joseph Biden to “come with clean hands and apologize to the UN for the mess that the US has done in Iraq”.
Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem
Sen. Joseph Biden, the aspiring Democratic nominee for US presidency, headed a bipartisan delegation and met yesterday UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to receive an update on efforts made to resolve the Darfur crisis. Biden, who chairs the US Senate foreign relations committee, said in remarks following the meeting that he would commit US troops to end the Darfur crisis if it was his decision.
Abdalmahmood said that Biden’s discussion of the Darfur crisis is “unwarranted and out of context”. He sharply criticized the international focus on the Darfur crisis saying it has “become an issue for those who have no issue”. Sudan’s UN envoy said that the situation in Darfur is improving on the political and humanitarian track.
A three-phase plan floated last year by then UN chief Kofi Annan is supposed to culminate in the deployment of UN peacekeepers to bolster the embattled African force in Darfur, a region the size of France.
But Khartoum has accepted only the first two stages of the plan, accusing the Western powers of plotting to recolonize the country under the guise of the UN mission. The second phase is supposed to set the infrastructure for the UN-AU hybrid forces as part if the final stage of the plan.
Abdalmahmood said that his government “fully agrees to the second phase without reservations”. He called on the UN & US to authorize funding to the African Union troops so that the second phase can be completed saying that the “ball is in their court now”.
The statements by Sudan’s UN envoy contrasted sharply with that of the UN mission in Sudan (UNMIS) spokesperson Radhia Achouri who said last week that the UN “will help the AU by providing support personnel and equipment but not paying up their budget”. Achouri stressed that “the African Union Mission in Sudan will continue to be financed through donations from member States”.
Abdalmahmood denied UN allegations of bombing raids by Sudan on Umrai calling it “rumors by the National Redemption Front [Darfur rebel faction]”. He said these news are spread by those who want to prolong the sufferings of the Darfur people.
The United Nations says 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced in the Darfur conflict, which flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government.
(ST)
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