SOUTH SUDAN Recruitment of new soldiers threatens peace
YAMBIO, South Sudan — South Sudan’s rival armed groups are forcefully recruiting civilians, including child soldiers, violating a fragile peace deal signed five months ago.
The evidence from numerous accounts that opposing sides are adding fighters to their ranks is a worrying sign that threatens the country’s peace, say officials.
In Yambio, near the border with Congo, all sides met recently to try to resolve their differences and strengthen the peace agreement. However, the meeting quickly turned tense as the government and opposition accused each other of recruiting new fighters, including child soldiers. The meeting highlighted the need for all fighters to be integrated into a single, unified national army, said observers.
The reports of new recruitment come from all sides.
In Twic state 1,200 men were forced into the government army, according to a letter sent from community leaders to the governor in January.
In Upper Nile state opposition leader Riek Machar is recruiting troops to “balance his number of forces with the government,” said a high-ranking opposition member who spoke with Machar and who insisted on anonymity for his safety.
And in Western Equatoria state, another group, the National Salvation Front, is allegedly recruiting former combatants pushing them to take up arms again or hand over their weapons if they refuse, said Johnson Niwamanya, team leader for the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring Mechanism, the body charged with documenting violations and overseeing the implementation of the peace agreement.
South Sudan is slowly emerging from the five-year civil war that killed almost 400,000 people and displaced millions. A peace deal signed on Sept. 12 in neighboring Sudan has been marked by delays, missed deadlines and violations. The latest wave of recruitment shows the fragility of the peace, as all sides are boosting the size of their forces, said an expert.
In addition are accusations of the continued use of child soldiers. An estimated 19,000 children are associated with armed groups in South Sudan, according to the United Nations, giving the country one of the highest numbers of child soldiers in the world.
James Nando, an opposition commander in Western Equatoria who is accused of having child soldiers, said he is merely caring for “orphans.”
While the parties say they are committed to peace, fighting continues across South Sudan.