High-level delegation visiting violence-plagued Unity State met with despair and pleas for protection.

M2 PRESSWIRE-May 18, 2022-: High-level delegation visiting violence-plagued Unity State met with despair and pleas for protection

(C)1994-2022 M2 COMMUNICATIONS

RDATE:17052022

A high-level delegation recently visited communities affected by devastating violence in the southern part of Unity State.

Its members, including representatives of the African Union (AU), the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC), the African Diplomatic Corps (ADC), the European Union (EU), the Troika (Norway, USA and the UK) and the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS)were not spared the gruesome details of what has transpired here since February.

"You see me with these crutches," Tapitha Nyekat Lony, a survivor seeking refuge in Leer town told the delegation. "I was not using them before, but the injuries I sustained during the clashes in my village have reduced me to this," she said.

"Are you here to rescue us? Then let me tell you something. I have two children who managed to survive the attacks. if you have come to save us, then let my children survive," she added before she and other cruelly affected people broke down in tears.

The clashes in Unity State started in February 2022 and have undermined the results of efforts to enhance social cohesion in the area since the formation of a Transitional Government of National Unity. The widespread violence has left many residents wondering whether the revitalized peace agreement is actually still being implemented.

A look at the bleak figures explains such bewilderment. Between February and April, Human Rights Officers serving with the peacekeeping mission have documented 155 people killed, 138 incidents of sexual violence, and 26 women and children being abducted in the three affected counties of Leer, Mayendit and Koch.

An estimated 40,000 people have been forced to flee their homes. Schools have been burnt, civilian property destroyed, and health facilities and humanitarian warehouses looted. The mayhem has dramatically increased humanitarian needs and placed thousands of already vulnerable people at further risk. In April, a humanitarian worker was killed in Leer while trying to flee an attack on his community.

The high-level joint delegation went to southern Unity to express solidarity with the affected communities and to reiterate its support to the people and government of South Sudan in pushing the peace process forward.

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