UN (AP) – South Sudan is shaking on the brink of a re-civil war, the youngest UN official in the world warned Monday, causing the government to delay its latest peace efforts.
Nicolas Haysom said that when the situation in the country was “terrible”, international efforts can only succeed if President Salva Kiir and his competitors turned Vice President Riek Machar willing to participate “and relate the interests of his people to their own.”
After a long conflict, there was high hopes when the oil-rich South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011. However, the country entered a civil war in December 2013, mainly based on race divisions, when forces loyal to the Dinka ethnic Kiir fought those loyal to the ethnic Machar.
More than 40,000 people were killed in the war, which ended with a 2018 peace agreement that brought Kiel and Machar to the government of national unity. Under the agreement, the elections were supposed to be held in February 2023, but they were postponed until December 2024 and then to 2026.
The latest tension stems from the battle between government forces and rebel militias in the northern part of the country, known as the White Army, which is widely believed to be an alliance with Machar.
Earlier this month, a United Nations helicopter was attacked on a mission to evacuate government forces from the town of Nasir (the battle scene in the Upper Nile State) and the South Sudanian general was killed. A few days ago, on March 4, the White Army crossed Nasir’s military garrison, and the government forces responded at the home of Machar in the capital Juba and arrested several of his key allies.
Hesom said tensions and violence were escalating, “especially as we get closer to elections, with political competition increasing, there is a sharp spot among the major players.”
Kiir and Machar trust each other, he said, could not demonstrate the leadership needed to implement the 2018 peace agreement and turned to a future that would see a stable and democratic South Sudan.
“Rampant misinformation, false information and hate speech are also increasing tensions and promoting racial division and fear,” Haysom said.
“In view of this grim situation, we have no other conclusions and can only assess that South Sudan is on the brink of a civil war,” he said.
Haysom, who is responsible for the United Nations peacekeeping mission of nearly 18,000 members in South Sudan, warned that the outbreak of war would lead to the same terror that swept the country, especially in 2013 and 2016.
He said the United Nations attaches great importance to the threat of “racial transformation” in conflict.
To prevent a new civil war, the UN Special Envoy said the peacekeeping mission was engaging in a strong shuttle diplomacy with international and regional partners, including the African Union, including the African Union.
Herso said the collective message of the regional and international community is to rely on Kiel and Machar to resolve their differences, return to the 2018 peace agreement, insist on a ceasefire, release detained officials and resolve tensions “through dialogue rather than military confrontation.”
