As the world's youngest country continues to struggle with its seemingly never ending civil war and the young generation of the world changing their profile pictures to the color blue in an act of support and sharing posts and profiles of supposed NGOs trying to support the people there, it is important to gather some perspective on this issue. The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) made a recent address that highlighted the recent situation in the war torn nation. The war that we are hearing about is being fought by two armies. On one side are the forces in support of the current president Salva Kirr and on the other side, the opposition forces led by Riek Machar, his former deputy. In recent times the UN peacekeeping forces have been deployed in key areas of South Sudan. Their main task is not to support the government, rather to protect the citizens from the effects of the war. This was done after thousands of cases of war crimes being committed by both sides in the war. In fact in some cases young men were recruited to the militias with a promise of income, share of loot and girls to rape from raided villages. But even in these darkest hours, one thing stands out. More than a million refugees are returning home. The people have hope that there will be peace within a year. Even some local militias have put down their arms in hope for peace. But due to a petty rivalry at the national level, the war goes on. It has gotten so bad that women and children need protection and escorts to collect firewood and other essentials outside the protection zone. Even then the locals say that its is unsafe for any person, not necessarily a girl, be it young or old, boy or girl, anyone can be subjected to assault. Some mothers have even gone as far as teaching young girls how to minimize the violence against them while being raped. Yes that is the kind of hell that they are living in right now. Both sides of the war have opened channels for negotiations and there has been progress. Right now all the world can do is hope that these men would put their petty quarrel aside for they sake of their citizens. Until then, the horrors may continue and the human rights violation cases will only increase. Unfortunately for the common people of the world, there will not be a quick and simple solution like signing a petition to solve this issue. In fact the war started in 2013. It isn't a recent "trend", it is a long term issue regarding the sustainability of the nation itself. In fact if its awareness that you seek to spread, why are we forgetting Yemen? Why are we forgetting Syria? Why are we forgetting Israel?, Ukraine? Afghanistan? Don't those lives matter as much? Of course they do. You do not need to show your support to the Sudanese people by changing your profile picture. This is not an issue that can be resolved by voting or any other parliamentary procedures. Salva Kirr is not going to open Instagram one day and see a lot of blue profile pictures and suddenly ask your suggestions. All we can do is pray for the men, women and children who are facing this horror as you read this and pray for the men and women working for and risking their lives for this fight for peace.
References:
news.un.org