4 The Report March 2014
A Troubled Beginning
by Brooks Weller
South Sudan, the world's newest country, is heading in a terrible direction. After just three years it is on the brink of another civil war. The question is, how did it start? On July 9, 2011 South Sudan became an independent country following a referendum that passed with 98.83% of the vote. Since then it has become a United Nations member state, a member state of the African Union, and a member state of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Wikipedia, 2013). This all seemed like a good start, but throughout South Sudan’s short time as an independent country, it has suffered from tribal conflicts. These have escalated severely, and now involves the government and varied armed forces throughout the country. This is all sad to hear considering it's circumstance as a new country, and now it has to search for stability and a way to end the growing tribal and political conflict.
The warfare began in South Sudan when conflict arose between two of the largest tribes in the country, the Dinka and Nuer. Each tribe had representatives in national government. In 2013, the current President Salva Kiir, from the Dinka tribe, dismissed several high-ranking government officials, including Vice President Riek Machar of the Nuer community, because they publicly promised to challenge him in the next election. Violence then broke out between government forces backing Kiir, and rebel soldiers still defending the Vice President, Machar. This political conflict quickly engaged the leaders’ respective tribal communities (The Week UK, 2014). In an article by The Observer, reporter Daniel Howden quoted witnesses on the ground saying dozens of people were killed in the first few days of the conflict, following Machar’s dismissal (Howden, 2013). Since this point, each community has been ethnically motivated to kill each other and resulted in a country full of constant violence.
The consequences of this conflict has affected many people, and if it is not stopped, it could lead to another civil war. Over 200,000 people have been displaced from their homes in just three months, and a 1,000 people have been killed. While representatives from each group have tried to agree on terms of a ceasefire, they have been unsuccessful. While everyone’s hopes are that both groups will come to an agreement, it is not looking like it will happen soon, and we can all just pray that the situation doesn’t continue to worsen and lead to a full blown civil war.