Friends and family members of nearly all of First Lutheran’s members who were born in what is now the country of South Sudan have been deeply affected by the civil unrest that is underway further north in Sudan’s capital city Khartoum and in the Northern, Blue Nile, North Kordofan, North Darfur, West Darfur and South Darfur states. Beginning April 15th, air strikes and street fighting between government forces and a military group put Khartoum’s 6 million people in physical danger and interrupted their access to food and medical care. The United States Embassy in Khartoum suspended its operations on April 22 and ordered U.S. employees and their dependents to depart.
Church member Daniel Wal explained, “Most border exits are closed. Many people are stranded in Khartoum. Refugees who once fled conflict in South Sudan in search of work, education or health care in the north find themselves running back to the south where war is still raging and food, education and hospital care are lacking. The villages they fled initially were destroyed; they are now forest again. There is no ‘home’ to return to. There is a lot of insecurity. South Sudan still does not have a functioning government.”
“UN Refugee Camps have appeared on the border between Sudan and South Sudan, adding additional burden to already strapped United Nations efforts in the region,” Wal added, summarizing the dire situation by quoting an African proverb, “When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.”
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