The world is reeling under many a tragedy today. However, United Nations believes that the most worrisome of them all is the situation in South Sudan. The African country is not only suffering because of a human conflict but also a natural calamity. Together, they have caused displacement of 3.5 million people, of which more than 2 million are children.
South Sudan has been ravages by a civil war since December 2013 because of some infighting between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar. This was followed by three years of “ethnic cleansing” as reported by UN. The violence has forced many people from the country to take refuge in neighboring countries Uganda, Kenya, Sudan and Ethiopia.
Unfortunately, all these countries are themselves suffering from severe resource crunch. There has been an early warning of the situation being a precursor to a man-made famine. Things are getting worse because the humanitarian aid sent by UN and other international agencies has been blocked because of the civil war.
According to UN, more than a million kids had to leave the country while another one million are internally displaced. “No refugee crisis today worries me more than South Sudan. That refugee children are becoming the defining face of this emergency is incredibly troubling,” Valentin Tapsoba, the Africa chief at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said in a statement on Monday.
The report also states that three in every four children in South Sudan do not go to school. More than 1,000 children have also been killed in the ongoing civil war in the country, it also says.
The dual problem is a threat to the very existence and independence of the youngest nation of the world.