By William Madouk
South Sudan government has appealed to the Sudanese warring parties to utilize the 72-hours truce for peace talks.
Violence erupted between the military and the well-armed Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on 15 April, which triggered a humanitarian crisis, and forcing many people to flee to neighboring countries.
Acting Foreign Affairs minister, Deng Dau said President Salva Kiir has been engaging with the two Sudanese leaders on phone calls to realize the ceasefire, in which the two generals initially accepted.
“On Tuesday April 25, President Al-Burhan in a call with President Salva Kiir gave his initial acceptance of the initiative,” Dau said.
“Our hope is that this particular period of 72-hours or beyond could be used as a way to resume to the table of talk so that the root cause issues can be addressed and how this war can be averted,” he appealed.
Mr. Dau made this statement yesterday during his briefing to the diplomatic community in Juba over the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Initiative on Sudan crisis.
He desired that the truce brokered by President Kiir that saw diplomatic missions vacating their nationals and provided safe humanitarians corridors could have meaningful impact on Sudanese lives.
“We hope that this particular ceasefire will have more meaning and will have an impact in the life of the Sudanese people in Khartoum and outside,” Dau noted.
Dau stressed that the attention now shift on how to get the warring parties to negotiation table, adding that war cannot be won in battlefield although each party wants to be in control.
“Of course, this is the objective of the war – one side must defeat the other side but sometimes it’s not the case, it takes life and time,” he mourned.
Mr. Dau appealed to warring parties to now choose the country of their choice for the peace talks to commence.
“It depends on the choice of the two leaders because venue cannot be imposed on warring parties.”
Acting Foreign minister also urged the neighboring countries to remain neutral so that it will not spark the already deteriorating situation in Sudan.
Renk County authorities had also recorded an estimated figure of over 9,000 South Sudanese returnees and refugees from the region to have entered Renk and are in urgent need of assistance.
On Thursday, Press secretary in the office of the Upper Nile State governor, William Ronyo stated that authority has received yet again more than 2,000 refugees in Paloch airport, who are now in ‘dire’ situation.
According to the state government spokesperson in Northern Bahr el Ghazal state, William Anyuon Kuol, the state has so far received 556 refugees in Aweil North County.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs & Disaster Management, Mr. Albino Akol Atak said now the country, based on the projected average will be receiving 6,000 refugees and returnees on daily basis.
Meanwhile, the Upper Nile government has formed a humanitarian crisis committee to respond to the influx of the refugees.
The committee that will be headed by the deputy governor will also come up with better mechanisms to respond to the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Manyo, Melut, Maban and Renk