Canon Ian Woodward, from our Salisbury-Sudans partnership, writes:
As we prepare to enter the season of Passiontide and prepare ourselves for the solemnity of Holy Week and the joy of Easter, we find Sudan and South Sudan in probably the most desperate state that I can recall in more than 25 years of our 50 year plus partnership.
The 15th April marks the second anniversary of the conflict in Sudan, and the BBC has reported that fighting between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has claimed more than 150,000 lives and the UN calls it the world’s largest humanitarian crisis in which some 12 million people are have been forced to flee their homes creating new crises particularly in neighbouring Chad and South Sudan. There is evidence of genocide in the western region of Darfur and this is beginning to be addressed by the United Nations and particularly our own Sudans All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG).
As the conflict intensified, Abp Ezekiel Kondo, his family and staff were forced to flee and with other supporters we helped him re-establish the Episcopal Church HQ in Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast. More recently the SAF has recaptured most of Khartoum including the symbolically important Presidential Palace. The RSF is now concentrated in El-Fasher in the Darfur region in the north and west of Sudan. It has been responsible for the most appalling atrocities including rape and murder of young children yet denies it is ethnic cleansing but “tribal conflict”. Efforts are being considered for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate. Some UN reports suggest that the RSF has been backed by neighbouring Chad, Libya and even South Sudan and it is widely reported that the RSF continues to be supported materially by the United Arab Emirates.
The UK Government’s recent decision to reduce the Overseas Development Aid budget is very disappointing. In South Sudan, violence has returned there too. Just 17 months after independence in July 2011 South Sudan was at war with itself yet again, riven with tribal conflicts. After constant but all too often ineffective efforts, a ceasefire collapsed in 2016 and re-established in 2018. Many people worry that Juba may be consumed by violence again, most recently triggered by President Salvar Kiir arresting the First Vice-President Riek Machar. Meanwhile Uganda has sent troops to Juba to shore up the Kiir government. The South Sudan Council of Churches (now chaired by Archbishop Justin Badi) has been urging all parties to seek peace and not conflict. “Faith before tribe” should be the guiding principle but that is easily said but much harder to practice.
The war in Sudan has made things much worse. As The Economist reports, the war in Sudan has prevented the export of about two-thirds of South Sudan’s oil – it’s economic lifeline which held the government together. If the peace agreement collapses again, it could merge with Sudan’s civil war across the border especially given Mr Kiir’s perceived closeness to the Rapid Support Forces.
A final thought: dare I suggest that Passiontide this year gives us the opportunity to make it Compassiontide as we seek to support our brothers and sisters in Sudan and South Sudan?
Our partnership is founded on prayer and fellowship so please continue to hold the Sudans in your prayers and, especially those in Yambio in Western Equatoria who, next week, will be celebrating the centenary of the founding of their cathedral. And if you are able to, contribute to our financial support to both Sudans - we would be very grateful. You can do this by sending your donation to: Salisbury Diocesan Board of Finance, Sort code 30 97 41 account number 00007237 – Sudans Appeal Further details will soon be available on our Salisbury-Sudans website.