Fact Sheet - South Sudan Conflict
May 2, 2014
Humanitarian Toll:
 1.2 million people are currently displaced (923,000 internally displaced people
(IDPs) and 293,200 refugees in neighboring countries) As of April 28, 2014.1
 4.9 million people are in dire need of humanitarian aid 1
 7 million people may be in famine by the end of the year 2
 300,000 IDPs and 1.8 million residents are in areas at risk of flooding 2
 150,000 IDPs are in areas that are inaccessible to aid agencies because of conflict. 1
Death Toll: tens of thousands. There is no official death count available. Four weeks after
the conflict began, the International crisis group reported the death toll was already at 10,000.
Many thousands have died since then.
Episcopal Church of Sudan and South Sudan (ECSSS):
 Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul of ECSSS, is the head of the Committee for National
Healing Peace and Reconciliation, and actively involved in ecumenical efforts for peace.
 Sudanese Development and Relief Agency (SUDRA) of ECSSS, has been providing lifesaving aid to displaced people, supported by international partners including ERD.
 The church’s effort are underfunded, and need support and advocacy.
Timeline of Atrocities (not comprehensive) 5 months of conflict, since December 15, 2013
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May 1- Active fighting continues, in Upper Nile and Jonglei states.
April 17- Fighters broke into the UN compound in Bor murdering 60 civilians,
including women and children who were seeking protection there.
April 15 – Bentiu Massacre - Rebels re-took the town of Bentiu and, using tactics of
genocide, massacred more than 500 people. Hundreds of people in the market
including women and children were rounded up and shot to death. Rebels sought out
hundreds of people hiding in churches and mosques, and killed them all. Rebels broke
into the hospital and killed patients and heath workers.
February 18 –March 20: Heavy fighting in Malakal, hundreds of civilians injured,
unknown death count. The town changes hands. The hospital is attacked, patients
killed in their beds.
January 23 – February 18 – Ceasefire agreed to, but some fighting continues.
January 12 – Malakal Ferry sinks, killing 300 civilians who were trying to flee.
December 25-January 20 –Fighting in Malakal between Rebels and Government forces,
the town switches hands many times. Atrocities are committed against civilians, mass
killings, sexual assault, destruction of homes and property.
December 19-January 19 – Fighting in Bor between Government and Rebels. During
that time hundreds, possibly thousands killed, including women and the elderly. 22
church workers, mostly women, were raped and killed at St. Andrew’s Episcopal
Cathedral in Bor. Mass graves were made for the victims. Rebels chased fleeing
civilians into the rural areas, tracking them down and killing them.
December 15 – A disagreement among soldiers escalates quickly and killing along
political and ethnic lines happens in Juba, then quickly spreads to Bor, Bentiu, Malakal,
and other areas, over a thousand are killed in the first week.
UNOCHA Situation Report and Map April 25-28
UNOCHA April 14 article “South Sudan Fear Food Crisis”
South Sudan Conflict Narrative
May 2, 2014
The country of Sudan (which gained independence from Britain and Egypt in 1956) was
wracked by two civil wars spanning 1955 to 2005, where Southerners were fighting for a
secular government (end to sharia law), and the right to self-determination. The 2005 peace
agreement was brokered with the help of the US, UK, and Norway. A regional government of
Southern Sudan was formed following the 2005 peace agreement, which became the Republic
of South Sudan after the referendum, where 99% voted in favor of independence in 2011.
The north still retains the name The Republic of Sudan. It is lead by a fundamentalist Islamist
government that persecutes the Episcopal Church, and other Christians. Sudan has been
embroiled in internal conflicts since fighting began in Darfur in 2003. Since June of 2011 the
government of Sudan is in active combat with rebels, and against civilians in all of its states
which border South Sudan (Darfur, South Kordofan, Blue Nile), where people are also fighting
for self-determination. More than 400,000 people have been displaced by that conflict, many
of them sheltering in the regions of South Sudan now in conflict.
The Government of South Sudan faced many challenges starting up: the ability of the
government to enact and enforce laws, charges of corruption and mismanagement, as well as
small rebel groups and bandits including the LRA, engaging in conflict. President Kiir
dismissed his Vice President and ministers in July 2013, showing division in the ruling party.
This divide between the President and Vice President boiled over into violence on December
15, 2013, when a disagreement broke out amongst soldiers in the capitol, Juba, which quickly
spread through the military in Juba. Some of the killing that went on was along tribal lines,
and quickly spread to regions outside the capitol.
The conflict has been going on for five months now. Several different rebel groups are fighting
against the Government of South Sudan for control of rural areas and key cities. There is
evidence that Sudan is arming these rebels to de-stabilize the South. The state capitols of Bor,
Malakal, and Bentiu have switched hands several times and suffered terrible destruction and
massacre. Tens of thousands have been killed. 1.2 million people have been displaced. There
are 4.9 million people in dire need of humanitarian assistance, and because the conflict is
increasing during the planting season, there is real danger or widespread famine affecting 7
million people.
The Episcopal Church of Sudan and South Sudan, remains a united member church of the
Anglican Communion, with 31 dioceses, and over 2 million members. ECSSS as well as the
Sudan Council of Churches were an instrumental part of bringing about the peace agreement
in 2005. The church is one of the only credible institutions left standing during this conflict.
Already ECSSS has played a role in the relief effort, bringing life-saving assistance to tens of
thousands of displaced people, as well as offering them a place to shelter. The church is
planning an ambitious peace program, and needs the support of partners around the world to
fund their work, and support them in advocacy. If the church is going to play the crucial role in
changing the culture of war into one of peace in South Sudan, it must be adequately funded to
do so.