South Sudan: top UN official in the country warns of risk of new civil war

The top United Nations official in South Sudan urged the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to use its clout to prevent the world’s newest nation from again plunging into civil war.

Nicholas Haysom warned that the escalating rivalry between South Sudan President Salva Kiir and one of the country's vice presidents has degenerated into direct military confrontation between their parties.

Recent fighting in the country’s north, the arrest of First Vice President Riek Machar and a campaign of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech are “fueling political and ethnic tensions — particularly on social media,” he said.

Haysom, the U.N. special envoy and head of the almost 20,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission in the country, warned that “these conditions are darkly reminiscent of the 2013 and 2016 conflicts, which took over 400,000 lives.”

A fragile peace

There were high hopes for peace and stability after oil-rich South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011.

But the country slid into civil war in December 2013 when forces loyal to Kiir, who is from the largest ethnic group in the country, called the Dinka, started battling those loyal to Machar, who is from the second-largest ethnic group, called the Nuer.

A 2018 peace deal has been fragile, and implementation has been slow. A presidential election has been postponed until 2026.

Haysom said, however, that the 2018 agreement “remains the only viable framework to break this cycle of violence in South Sudan.”

“The overriding imperative now is to urgently avert a relapse into full-scale conflict, refocus efforts on accelerating the implementation of the agreement, and advance the transition towards South Sudan’s first democratic elections,” said Haysom.

“Another war is a risk South Sudan simply cannot afford, nor can the wider region,” he insisted.

Haysom said the peacekeeping force is engaged in intensive diplomatic efforts with the African Union, the regional group Intergovernmental Authority on Development, or IGAD, the Vatican and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to broker a peaceful solution.