Ignore Kiir dialogue bid, S Sudan refugees urged

JUBA: South Sudanese refugees, who fled the conflict in the world’s newest country to camps in neighbouring countries, have been urged to boycott South Sudan President Salva Kiir’s national dialogue initiative, the Sudan Tribune reports.

The call was made by Stephen Waat, an official from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In Opposition, who warned refugees in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo that the attempt at dialogue was a “ploy” and that it created an “unfavourable” environment refugees living in camps.

Kiir has insisted that the only way forward for the war-torn country is for the government to sit down with the opposition and negotiate as part of August’s peace revitalisation process initiated by a regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development.

“The SPLM-IO Ugandan chapter, in line with the official position, is clear it does not recognise this initiative because it is a breach of the agreement,” said Waat. “It also expressed its opinion that the initiative from the outset is national, but from the onset, it is a monologue between the government and itself to the benefit of some sections of the Jieng community.” Waat said the dialogue initiative does not replace the Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan, which laid the groundwork for a temporary government of national unity in 2015.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions of civilians since December 2013. – ANA