African clergy say the Republic of South Sudan, which gained
independence on July 9, must take steps to resolve an increasingly
violent conflict in the troubled border region of South Kordofan.
“If
the Government of South Sudan does not sit down to address the issues
raised by the militia groups, it could become a nightmare with no
stability for the South,” said Bishop Daniel Adwok of Khartoum in a
recent interview with the international Catholic charity Aid to the
Church in Need.
According to the United Nations, violence between
northern Sudan's armed forces, and South Sudan's former allies in the
Sudan People's Liberation Movement, has displaced more than 75,000
people since the groups began fighting in early June.
Earlier this
month, Sudan's northern armed forces made the provocative gesture of
strategically positioning four vehicles that appear to be outfitted with
multiple-rocket launcher systems.
The army says the deployment is
normal and that the north is not assembling troops, according to the
Sudan Tribune.
But Bishop Adwok remains wary of the move, which he
expects will cause greater conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces and
the Sudan People's Liberation Movement.
“I do not think the South
will stand idle if it sees its former allies experiencing fatalities and
other forms of suffering,” Bishop Adwok noted.
The Sudan People's
Liberation Movement allied with the south during Sudan's second civil
war, which ended with a peace agreement in 2005. Under that agreement,
the liberation movement was to be integrated into the Sudan Armed
Forces. The planned integration, however, did not succeed.
Sudan's
government acknowledges that South Sudan is now officially independent.
But South Sudanese minorities in the northern nation fear that
reprisals against them may follow, including the possible imposition of
Islamic law.
“There is a recognition that change has finally come
to South Sudan, but they are in a defiant mood,” Bishop Adwok said of
politicians in Khartoum.
“Many see South Sudan becoming
independent as a kind of liberation, meaning that Khartoum is now able
to what it wants and can pursue its own agenda without having to take
into account the very different needs of the south.”
Aid to the
Church in Need reported on July 11 that 18,000 faithful in Bishop
Adwok's region have sought repatriation to the south, due to the
possibility of further oppression.
“The 18,000 do not have protection and are very vulnerable,” he said.
The
community's willingness to face danger in crossing between the north
and the south reflects a confidence in the Republic of South Sudan and
its future. Father Chris Townsend, an information officer for the
Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, called it “a country of
enormous potential” in a July 11 article for South Africa's Mercury
newspaper.
But many who return from the north are finding their
newly independent home incapable of supporting them. “Many Southerners
who were in the North have fled south to few schools and less
opportunity,” Fr. Townsend noted.
He said the enormous influx of
people returning to South Sudan has seriously strained a country already
suffering from “chronic” lack of infrastructure and development. South
Sudan, Fr. Townsend wrote, “has a long way to go.”
Despite these
difficulties, the country is focused on establishing its new independent
identity. Salva Kiir Mayardit, the president of the Republic of South
Sudan, issued his first decrees on July 10, establishing a temporary
government.
The majority of the decrees represented a change in
title from the “Government of Southern Sudan” to the “Republic of South
Sudan,” with no changes in personnel taking place.
However, three
ministries changed their names to reflect the new republic's
independence.
The Ministry of Regional Cooperation changed its name to
Foreign Affairs, while the Ministry of Legal Affairs and Constitutional
Development became the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Sudan
People's Liberation Army and War Veterans Affairs became simply the
Ministry of Defense.
The republic has also designed and ordered a
new currency, called the South Sudan pound.
The bills will bear the
image of the founder of the Sudan People's Liberation Army, Dr. John
Garang.
The Associated Press reports that the new bills should arrive
July 13 and go into circulation July 18.