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Let’s Establish “emergency plans” for Persons Fleeing Sudan War: South Sudanese Archbishop

Members of the South Sudan Catholic Bishops Ecclesiastical Provincial Council. Credit: ACI Africa

By Patrick Juma Wani

Juba, 01 July, 2023 / 9:55 pm (ACI Africa).

There is a need to establish “some emergency” interventions for persons fleeing the violent conflict in Sudan, Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin of South Sudan’s Juba Archdiocese has said. 

Speaking Tuesday, June 27, during the opening of the South Sudan Catholic Bishops Ecclesiastical Provincial Council forum in Juba, Archbishop Ameyu said that Caritas at the level of Dioceses can facilitate the emergency initiatives. 

“We need to set up some emergency and contingency plans by trying to at least awaken our Caritas at the Diocesan level to support them,” the Catholic Archbishop said in reference to persons fleeing the war that broke out on April 15.

The South Sudanese Catholic Archbishop who was addressing participants in the three-day event that concluded on Thursday, June 29 added, “People fleeing from Sudan should be given special consideration to settle in the country.”

“These people have lost everything including their property and savings,” he further said.

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The Local Ordinary of Juba Archdiocese who doubles as the Deputy President of the Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SCBC) that brings together Catholic Bishops in Sudan and South Sudan called on Church institutions in the East-Central African country “to continue helping in humanitarian emergencies, especially the people coming from Sudan.”

“It is not easy but you are managing it; the humanitarian situation in South Sudan has not peaked but is accelerating; I encourage you to continue to help in the emergency we have,” Archbishop Ameyu said during the meeting that was convened to address matters of concern in the seven South Sudanese Catholic Dioceses.

On June 29, three military and one intelligence sources said thousands of men who worked as intelligence operatives under former president Omar al-Bashir and have ties to his Islamist movement are fighting alongside the army in the ongoing Sudan war, Reuters reported.

Earlier on June 27, the United Nations (UN) said that the conflict in Sudan was taking an ethnic turn in Darfur as fighting rages on, Africa News reported.

Speaking at the opening of the June 27-29 event, Archbishop Ameyu underscored the need for Catholic Church leaders in South Sudan to make public “their resolution for peace-building and peace-searching all over the country.”

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“We are experiencing little wars or skirmishes that could become full civil war if they are allowed to continue,” the 59-year-old Catholic Archbishop said, and called upon his brother Bishops to “consider peace and reconciliation as their priorities in South Sudan.”

Patrick Juma Wani

Patrick Juma Wani is a South Sudanese journalist with a great zeal and interest for Catholic Church related communication. Patrick holds a Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication from Makerere Institute for Social Development (MISD) in Uganda. He has over 7 years of extensive experience in leading the development and implementation of media, advocacy, communication and multimedia strategy and operations, with an excellent track record of editorial leadership, budget management, and stakeholder outreach. He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.

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