In a riveting dispatch for the New York Times from South Sudan "Where the Soldiers Are Scarier Than the Crocodiles", Nicholas Kristof documents the terror and struggles of people who have sought refuge from war, hiding with their families in swamps and marshy islands to escape attacks by soldiers. Kristof says no solutions are ideal, but calls for "an arms embargo and sanctions aimed at the assets of individuals on each side of the civil war. Make leaders pay a price for intransigence, instead of profiting from it." He also quotes Enough's Founding Director John Prendergast: “Go after their assets…Stinging financial pressure that targets the top leaders on both sides will impact calculations more than anything else.”
Mr. Prendergast also points out in a recent New York Times article "In South Sudan, City of Hope Is Now City of Fear," the “well-worn” narrative of helplessness oversimplifies the root issue in South Sudan. He says, "The real story is one of a falling out among kleptocratic thieves, whose self-enrichment free-for-all before and after independence led competing factions to use ethnicity as a mobilizer, which is the equivalent of aiming a flamethrower at an oil rig.” The article also states that on paper, a peace deal is supposed to be holding in South Sudan. In reality, the fear of violence is keeping thousands in protection sites run by the UN. Getting aid to the needy is a major hustle as organizations are subjected to extortion at numerous roadblocks set up by military men.
Click here to read "Where the Soldiers Are Scarier Than the Crocodiles."
Click here to read "In South Sudan, City of Hope Is Now City of Fear."