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Western nations have raised the alarm over what they describe as a serious decline in South Sudan’s political and security climate — the most troubling since the end of its devastating civil war in 2018.
In a strongly worded joint statement released Friday, the embassies of Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK, the US, and the European Union said they “strongly concur” with an assessment by the body overseeing the peace process, which warned that the situation in South Sudan has “markedly worsened.”
The warning follows months of renewed clashes between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those supporting First Vice President Riek Machar, who was placed under house arrest in March. The ongoing hostilities have reignited fears of a return to civil war, which ended six years ago after claiming approximately 400,000 lives.
Tensions escalated after the government accused Machar’s allies of stirring unrest in Nasir County in Upper Nile State, allegedly in cooperation with the White Army — an informal militia composed mainly of ethnic Nuer youths.
The peace monitoring body, the Revitalised Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC), reported earlier this week that armed violence had erupted across the country in a manner not seen since the 2018 peace agreement. It highlighted the detention of opposition politicians and the continued confinement of Machar as key points of concern.
Adding to tensions, a recent government statement listed nine counties predominantly inhabited by the Nuer ethnic group as “hostile”, suggesting alignment with Machar’s SPLM-IO party. An opposition leader described the designation as a “mapping for genocide”, prompting sharp condemnation from the international community.
The Western embassies said they “deplore” the government’s stance and reiterated their call for Machar’s release, urging all parties to abandon violence and commit to political dialogue.
According to the United Nations, the renewed conflict has killed at least 200 people and displaced around 125,000 since March. The international community is increasingly warning that South Sudan, which gained independence in 2011, is at risk of slipping back into full-scale conflict unless urgent steps are taken to restore peace.
