Jonglei: Displaced persons fear children school out-drop as opening
day approaches
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January 31, 2012 (BOR) – Mary Ayen ran away with her two sisters and a
brother from a village due to the recent insecurity in Jonglei state
and settled in Bor town in December but now face the dilemma of where
to get education when primary schools open in two week times.
Ayen, 17, said her parents remained in their village 20 kilometres
east of Bor town, the capital of Jonglei state, hoping to reunite with
them if government provides adequate protection to the area.
Jonglei state government say disarmament, deployment of police in
“buffer zones” separating ethnic communities and creation of mobile
military patrol unit will restore safety and argues villagers to be
hopeful for the future.
At least 1,000 people were killed in 2011 in Jonglei state alone
according to UN figures in cattle rustling and counter-raids along
ethnic lines.
In December 2011, an estimated 6,000-8,000 armed Lou Nuer youth
launched what they called a retaliatory attack on Murle villages in
Pibor county killing hundreds and displacing thousands of people.
Exact figures have not been confirmed but the Commissioner of Pibor
has said the figure is over 3,000 dead but the UN have dismissed this.
The UN say that over 100,000 people have been affected by the raid and
consequent attacks by the Murle in early January.
Prior to the Pibor attack, Jalle Payam [district] in Bor county
inhabited by Dinka tribe on 5 December, 2011 was attacked, allegedly
by Murle raiders, killing at least 50 people according to officials.
Other villages in Bor county came under a series of attack in late
December, including Kapat Boma (sub-district) in Makuach Payam that
left three people dead on 28 December, 2011 leading to displacement of
many people including Mary Ayen and her sisters and brother.
Like other young displaced people Mary faces another dilemma: whether
to stay in the town with expensive tuition fees and soaring prices of
food items.
“My major fear is failing to go to school when fist term opens on
February 15, 2012,” said the primary six teenager.
Her story is reflected in Bor as the number of street children has
surged in January due to increasing migration from rural areas to
urban areas, accelerated by a series of attack in villages remote from
Bor town where Jonglei citizens believe there is better protection.
Older people remained in the villages to look after cattle and this
year’s crops. Parents, who cannot afford to pay higher schools fees in
town, hope that government will be able to provide security for rural
areas soon.
“In a village school, the fees is only twenty South Sudanese or less
but here [Bor town], it is something over fifty SSP a term,” Chol
Deng, a father of four who fled from his village in January, told
Sudan Tribune.
GOVERNMENT’S RESPOND
South Sudan’s government has labelled Jonglei a “disaster area”
following what is thought to have been a heavy attack on Pibor county
at the eve of Christmas. Both local and national authorities say
comprehensive disarmament will be carried out in the troubled state
“very soon.”
Jonglei state says the police have less armed men and women compared
to the number of armed civilians who acquired guns during the
south-north two decades of civil war.
Jonglei state minister for local government, Diing Akol, told Sudan
Tribune that he is against the desertion of villages saying it was
“shameful” that South Sudan’s army and police were not able to provide
then with security.
“Now it is a question time and soon the situation will be normal in
Jonglei state,” said Ding Akol.
“We are going to deploy forces in every Payam [district] and we will
have mobile patrol units,” he said.
South Sudan became independence from Sudan in July 2011 following a
January 2011 referendum, promised in a 2005 peace deal that ended two
decades civil war between mainly Muslim north and South Sudan, most of
whom follow Christian and traditional African beliefs.
Maintaining security in South Sudan is one of the major challenges
facing the fledgling nation. The government is attempting to stop the
killings through disarmament but some groups say that leaves them
vulnerable to groups who have not been so well disarmed.
South Sudan’s poor road network also hinders responses to incidents,
such as those over the last six weeks.
(ST)
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