Violence Overshadows Hope in South Sudan

When South Sudan became an independent nation in July, there was concern that violence could break out along the new international border that separates the two Sudans.

But an outbreak of violence within South Sudan makes clear that the infant country faces other serious challenges as well.

Authorities say more than 150 people have been killed in the latest violence in South Sudan’s vast Jonglei state.

Thousands of fighters from one ethnic group, the Lou Nuer, attacked a town populated by members of a rival tribe, the Murle.

Anchor Marco Werman talks to the BBC’s Will Ross, who is in neighboring Kenya, about the inter-ethnic violence in South Sudan.

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Marco Werman: I’m Marco Werman and this is The World, a coproduction of the BBC World Service, PRI and WGBH Boston. When South Sudan became an independent nation in July there was concern that violence could break out along the new international border that separates the two Sudans, but an outbreak of violence within South Sudan makes clear that the infant country faces other serious challenges as well.

Announcer: ¨Authorities say more than 150 people have been killed in the latest violence in South Sudan’s vast Jonglei state. Thousands of fighters from one ethnic group, the Lou Nuer, attacked a town populated by members of a rival tribe, the Murle.

Werman: The BBC’s Will Ross is in neighboring Kenya.

Will Ross: We’re hearing reports from the areas outside the town of Pibor, where people have fled, that several massacres have taken place. It’s very difficult to get an idea of the scale, but I spoke to one Murle woman who told me she received a phone call fom her mother who had heard that all 20 of their relatives had been killed. They had left the town a few days ago on foot. They walked for about three hours to what they thought was a safe place, and the entire family was killed. I’ve spoken to other people who have told me about killings in far flung places outside Pibor, and basically the tens of thousands, we think somewhere between 20 and 40 thousand people on the move and they’re getting absolutely no assistance or protection whatsoever.

Werman: So is it being described as ethnic violence because as you also pointed out, this conflict began as cattle raids, which sounds very economic.

Ross: Certainly cattle are a trigger for the violence and historically that’s been the source for the conflict. I think there are many more guns in the hands of people now because of the years of war between the north and the south, and also the borders around there are fairly porous, but you can’t really overestimate the importance of the cattle to these people. They are the bank. They’re how they store their money. When somebody gets married for instance, a vast number of cattle are handed over. So when these raids take place they principally are to get cattle. And one of them I think in August last year, approximately 40,000 head of cattle were stolen. So that’s the sort of scale we’re talking about. But when those attacks happen at the same time as stealing the cattle, people are killed and also children have been abducted, especially by the Murle people. And that’s what’s angered the Lou Nuer people so much. They say we’ve gotta get our children back.

Werman: I’m wondering what people in South Sudan make of all this because I mean their country was one of the apparent success stories in 2011, became the continent’s newest independent nation. Can if live at peace within its own borders and with its neighbors? Are people there even thinking about that heady moment last summer?

Ross: Some of the problems of the south have been sort of glossed over during the celebrations, even in the lead up to those independence celebrations in July there were some terrible attacks in the south that people didn’t really talk about much because the international community was sort of building up to this momentous occasion of the south breaking away from Sudan. So obviously there’s a lot of hope, especially you know if you talk to people in towns, in the capital, like Juba. Then you go out into the villages and nothing has changed, and you get a sense that some communities might not be very aware of what the independence really is all about because their daily struggles are so immense that a celebration one day in July doesn’t really make any difference when you’re facing frequent battles with neighbors.

Werman: Will, one thing that we haven’t talked about is vast oil reserves on the disputed border region between South Sudan and Sudan, and lately South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, has accused Sudan’s government in the north of trying to grab that oil. I’m wondering if these two nations could cut some sort of deal to try and share the oil wealth that they both need?

Ross: Well, they’re obviously are a lot of things that weren’t sorted out when the south broke away and that is the source of a lot of tension. And the border wasn’t even demarcated properly, so there’s still a lot of tension on the border. The oil revenues weren’t worked out how they would share it all out, so it’s not surprising at this state, you know, six months down the line, accusations flying back and forth about the oil money and you know, the suggestion that some of the conflict on the border is being fueled in order to try and grab the oil fields. These two countries had a very messy divorce. Many predicted it wouldn’t even happen at all. And now they’re living with the aftermath of that messy divorce, which includes these unresolved issues. And unless they sort out the oil you know, that is very likely because obviously of the huge economic importance, it’s very likely to trigger more violence. But it’s clear if the government to the south of it really wants to have any chance of keeping the peace within the country, let alone between the north and the south, it’s gonna have to work to build the bridges between these ethnic groups because the violence is on such a scale that you don’t really know how the authority is gonna be able to stop it.

Werman: The BBC’s East Africa correspondent, Will Ross, in Nairobi talking about the roots of interethnic violence in neighboring South Sudan. Will, thanks a lot.

Ross: You’re welcome.

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