Continued conflict in South Sudan has forced 52,000 people to flee to Uganda in January alone, the UN said. Killings of civilians, rapes and the destruction of homes and property have been reported.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/J. Lynch
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More than 52,000 South Sudanese fled to Uganda in January amid continued fighting that risks turning into a mass atrocity, the UN's special adviser on genocide prevention said Tuesday.
Many of those who have fled reported killings of civilians, the destruction of homes, sexual violence, and the looting of livestock and property, said Adama Dieng.
60 years of war and peace in South Sudan: A photo timeline
South Sudan's rebel leader and vice president-designate, Riek Machar, is finally back in Juba. Many hope that his arrival will bring the country a step closer towards realizing the August 2015 peace agreement.
Image: AFP/Getty Images
South Sudan: Fought over since colonial era
For decades, what is now the Republic of South Sudan was officially part of the Republic of Sudan. The first secession war dates back to 1955, even before British colonialists handed over duties to the new government in Khartoum, with Christian South Sudanese fighting for more independence from the Arab north.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Pendl
Lines get blurred
From 1972 to 1983, South Sudan enjoyed relative peace and autonomy before falling back into civil war. The Sudan People's Liberation Movement and Army (SPLM/A) took up the fight, led by John Garang. The group later splintered, with Salva Kiir and Riek Machar holding leading positions in different factions.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Rosenthal
Free at last
In a January 2011 referendum, the South Sudanese people voted for independence. Salva Kiir and Riek Machar were named president and vice president respectively. The new state was based largely on a peace deal struck in 2005 under the auspices of Garang, who died in a helicopter crash weeks after the deal.
Image: AP
Taking up arms again
The alliance between the enemies-turned-colleagues didn't last long. In July 2013, two years after independence, Kiir dismissed Riek Machar and all other cabinet members. In December, he donned his military uniform for effect when addressing the media, accusing Machar and his allies of attempting a coup. It was the beginning of a civil war that continues to this day.
Image: Reuters
A deadly conflict
At least 50,000 people have died in the conflict, despite various attempts at ending it on different levels. 2.4 million people have been forced from their homes. In May 2014, the 14,000-strong UN mission to South Sudan was restructured to focus on the protection of civilians. Building the state no longer seemed a realistic goal to pursue.
Image: Reuters
Hopes shattered
Also in May 2015, a meeting of Kiir (far left) and Machar (far right) in Addis Ababa resulted in a ceasefire agreement that sparked hope for peace. Those hopes evaporated when new fighting erupted hours later. Subsequent agreements would be just as short-lived. Not only did the two leaders fail to agree, but observers commented they had long ago lost control over their respective fighters.
Image: Reuters
Opponents reunited
The latest peace agreement, signed in August 2015, had a rocky start. President Salva Kiir at first refused to sign but finally gave in to international pressure. Part of the deal was to guarantee Machar's return from his exile in Ethiopia. But there has been quarrelling over the number of fighters and weapons that could accompany him to Juba.
Image: Reuters/G. Tomasevic
The spoils of war
Meanwhile, the conflict has left the country in ruins. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Said Raad al-Hussein, says in a report that both government troops and rebels use rape as a means of terror and warfare. The UN Security Council has decided to put in place a commission to investigate the violence.
Image: GetttyImages/AFP/C. Lomodon
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"President Salva Kiir has made a commitment to end the violence and bring about peace, yet we still see ongoing clashes, and the risk that mass atrocities will be committed remains ever-present," he said in a statement.
Dieng said there was particular concern about the situation in Kajo-Keji, located south of the capital, Juba, where UN peacekeepers have faced access restrictions and civilians are fleeing en masse.
South Sudan descended into civil war in 2013, less than two years after gaining independence. The conflict arose from a rivalry between President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and his former deputy Riek Machar, an ethnic Nuer. A peace process and a power sharing agreement have failed to take hold.
Fighting has displaced more than 1.85 million people internally and sent another 1.4 million fleeing to neighboring countries. About half the population of 12 million people is in need of humanitarian aid - a number that aid agencies say could rise by 20 or 30 percent this year.
The UN warned earlier this month that fighting and disrupted humanitarian activities would likely contribute to extreme levels of food insecurity in South Sudan this year.
