Civilians Move Out Of Jonglei’s Town, Rebels Threaten Attack
The civilian population has started moving out of Pibor town due to fear of rebel attacks, a Member of Parliament has said, adding that only government officials are left in the town seeking evacuation. 15 May 2013 Gumuruk Constituency MP, Judi Jonglei has said that they have heard about the mass movement of civilians out of Pibor town due to fear of rebel attacks. [Jacob Achiek Jok] By Jacob Achiek Jok BOR, 15 May 2013 [Gurtong] – The Gumuruk Constituency MP, Judi Jonglie has said that they have heard about the mass movement of civilians out of Pibor town due to fear of rebel attacks. “The government officials are requesting actually to be evacuated but I do not know how it will take time because these are the government officials including the county commissioner,” said the MP. He said people have move to rural areas occupied by David Yau Yau and some of them are just looking for safety places to stay. He said that Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) has opportunity and guarantee of calling back the civilians to come back to town if they should cooperate with the county commissioner. He said that people are looking for the safety because Pibor town is not safe at the moment as people are being killed in the town. The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) yesterday said that the security in Pibor is deteriorating due to the looting and displacement affecting civilians and humanitarian organizations that have occurred in recent days. The UNMISS is particularly alarmed by reports about the involvement in some of the incidents of allegedly defected and ill-disciplined members of security forces, as well as by statements issued by David Yau Yau’s led armed group (South Sudan Democratic Movement/Army) demanding civilians to leave the towns of Pibor, in Jonglei, and Kapoeta, in Eastern Equatoria State. In public statements respectively issued on 2, 6 and 13 May 2013, the SSDM/A (David Yau Yau), demanded civilians and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) to leave Kapoeta and Pibor towns within a week, and referred to warnings of an imminent attack on both towns. Similarly, reports have been received of armed elements telling civilians in Pibor town of an imminent attack and prompting them to leave. These developments have led to significant displacement of the civilian population out of Pibor town. The UNMISS received reports of looting of civilian dwellings in the town on 9 May, with more incidents of widespread looting reported on 11 and 12 May. The premises of a number of humanitarian organizations, including a medical facility, as well as facilities where the United Nations had pre-positioned food stocks for humanitarian assistance, were looted. The looting was reportedly perpetrated by a range of groups, including defected elements from the Wildlife Service, ill-disciplined SPLA soldiers, elements from non-state armed actors and individual criminal elements. The Government of South Sudan has the primary responsibility to protect the population and UNMISS calls on the civilian and military authorities, at the national, Jonglei State and Pibor County levels, to immediately take control of the situation, take action against any perpetrators and hold them to account. UNMISS has reported these incidents to the SPLA and has demanded, at the highest level, that necessary measures be taken urgently. The UNMISS troops were patrolling Pibor town already before the looting started. UNMISS has reinforced its presence in Pibor town with additional troops and deployed a military unit to protect pre-positioned food stocks. UNMISS peacekeepers also have clear instructions to assist in protecting the civilian population in Pibor. Posted in: Home, Governance, Humanitarian -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
