South Sudan and Sudan: Violence

(asked on 10th January 2022) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent reports of armed attacks in (1) Yith Pabol Village in Aweil County, South Sudan, and (2) Miodol village, Rumameer County, Abyei; what assessment they have made of the likelihood of further violence; and what steps they intend to take in response.


This question was answered on 18th January 2022

We are concerned by recent incidents of violence and the tragic loss of life, including in Aweil and Rumameer counties. We are in touch with partners, including the UN peacekeeping missions in South Sudan (UNMISS) and in Abyei (UNISFA) to better understand these incidents and where the international community can help to reduce intercommunal tensions and conflict. In the meantime the British Embassy Juba has publicly commented expressing our concern at the incident in Aweil.

Instances of violence such as these are often driven by complex, deep rooted and overlapping causes. There is a longstanding pattern of intercommunal violence, closely linked to the unresolved status of Abyei, cattle-raiding and associated violence between the Misseriya and Dinka communities in these areas. As such we unfortunately anticipate there will be further incidents of violence until the underlying causes are addressed. We continue to press the Governments of Sudan and South Sudan to resolve the status of Abyei to help address the root causes of conflict in areas surrounding Aweil and Rumameer. This is in addition to engagement with the Government of South Sudan and other political actors to urge them to address the root causes of broader conflict in South Sudan through peacebuilding initiatives and to implement the 2018 Peace Agreement.

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