PEOPLE OF YEI YET TO BENEFIT FROM NEW SOUTH SUDAN PEACE DEAL
Channel: UNMISS VIDEOS
Date: 2018-11-09

These women and children left their homes and everything they own as they fled the violent conflict in the Yei region of South Sudan. They have sought sanctuary with other displaced families in temporary settlements in the relative safety of the town itself.

Just 160km to the north, in the capital Juba, political leaders and foreign dignitaries joined about 100,000 people for an extravagant ceremony marking the recent signing of a new peace deal.

But the people of Yei are yet to feel the benefits of peace as fierce clashes continue between armed groups fighting for territorial control in the area.

SOUNDBITE: INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSON EMMANUEL HAKIM WATA: 
“People are rejoicing. Meanwhile, we are in agony. We are suffering. We are crying so we wish the peace would come to Yei so we can enjoy it like the rest of the world.”
Before fresh fighting flared up in October, the area had experienced a lull in the violence which encouraged thousands of people to return from their hiding places in the bush or from refugee camps in Uganda and the Congo. They hoped to make a fresh start. Instead, they are again caught in the crossfire. 

SOUNDBITE: SOBE CENTRE SPOKESPERSON KETI VIOLA GEORGE: 
“They come from the bush, some of them are raped, they come here when they are tired, too sick, they don’t have proper medication to be attended to and also our women here they face a problem of like our internal people, like the soldiers in the area, some of them go and steal the little they have in the house. So, they steal, or they beat them up, some of them kill their children. They really feel a lot of pain.”

More than a thousand of those affected gathered to share their stories with the Head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. The Mission has established a new base in Yei to provide a protective presence and help build peace.

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL, DAVID SHEARER:
“The peace celebration was a wonderful day. It was a great day. But there are places in the country where the war goes on and in and around Yei, where there are multiple factions fighting each other, the fighting is going on and what we’ve got to be able to do is to try and create a presence and a stability down there that will enable people to get back and into their homes.”

The impact of the war as well as bad weather is taking a huge toll. About 20 per cent of all of South Sudan’s food supply used to come from this region. But the insecurity and heavy rains have destroyed crops and roads, contributing to a grim economic situation for a region that was once flourishing. 

SOUNDBITE: YEI RIVER DEPUTY GOVERNOR, YOUSTO BEDA DEMA LUKUDU: 
“We do not want our state to be used as a war theatre by those who are either against the peace agreement or are not satisfied with it. Our people have suffered enough and their plight should end the soonest.”

For the people of Yei, signing a peace deal is easy. They want to see concrete action so that the next generation can look forward to a more peaceful and prosperous future.