More than 100 children were taken by attackers.
Did that catch your attention now? Death tolls rise to about 200 in Ethiopia, and there are about 100 children reported missing. Sunday afternoon, government spokesman Getachew Reda told news agencies “208 dead and 75 wounded.” Not to mention that the attackers also took 2,000 head of livestock.
What is the Conflict Exactly? Disturbing.
Attacks like this have happened before, but not merely as large. The gunmen are believed to be from neighboring South Sudan, and have not provided any information about the children that have gone missing. The attacks happened in the districts of the Nuer Zone, which is near the border of the two countries.
In December of 2013, South Sudan broke out into a civil war that resulted in inhumane consequences. Killing of civilians, gross violation and abusing human rights, began in the country capital Juba and have spread across the entire country.
50,000 people have lost their lives in this conflict. Merely 650,000 refugees fled across borders to Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia. South Sudan’s population exceeds 1.7 million displaced people as it is. A recently published report by the African Union (AU) Commission of Inquiry has documented inhumane acts committed by the armed forces of the Government of South Sudan and their opposition; include forced cannibalism, rape, burning and killing of innocents, including children and the elderly.
It was also reported that the Nuer ethnic group (second largest in South Sudan), has been subjected to systematic killing planned by the state security. The GOSS (Government of South Sudan) is led by President Salva Kiir and former vice president Riek Machar. Machar belongs to the Nuer ethnic group.
How did this happen?
South Sudan has not been able to have a functioning government since its independence in 2011. This led to corruption and mismanagement, led by ethnically driven policies. Contrasted with this chaotic absence of law and order, the events that took place in December of 2013 are not a surprise. This is not a conflict about ethnicity, rather an ethnicity violently forced crisis. A series of unsuccessful peace talks, resulting in an agreement that was signed by the two parties in August of 2015. This “agreement” led to ceasefires, but the opposition force delayed sending its advance team to Juba because of lack of funding. The Peace Agreement began unraveling, as the government continues to completely violate forcing thousands to flee their homes. Conflicting identities like Nuer continued to commit against other targeted ethnic groups, and fractured the entire society. The killers are unable to recognize that all ethnicities have the same right to live in the same country. The walk towards healing will be merely impossible until they do.
Now, South Sudan is in need of International Community Support to reinforce the Peace Agreement. Until these criminals are held responsible for their crimes against humanity, and form a mutual agreement, the recovery of South Sudan is not possible.
This conflict is as deadly as the wars that we see broadcasted on every media outlet. It is bizarre that our society is so out of touch with the inhumane and disturbing actions that are taking place in South Sudan, and it has only become scarier and larger. These attacks are comparable to any terrorist attack in any country, yet we only hear of it when hundreds of children are involved, and this issue essentially falls on our lap. A battle within ethnicity is not foreign to any country, and needs to be addressed in every way possible. The value of this war may not be as profitable to the wars over the oil WE purchase, or the places WE travel, but it is more than relevant.
Amir Idris is Professor and Chair of Department of African and African American Studies at Fordham University, New York City.
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