Brussels, 15/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 15 January, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs said they were “very saddened” by the news of a boat accident in which reportedly more than 200 civilians, many of them women and children, may have lost their lives while fleeing the violence in Malakal, South Sudan. “This tragic incident adds to the human toll that the current conflict has already inflicted on the South Sudanese people”, Ashton and Piebalgs state in a joint press release. They also say that “the EU deplores this loss of innocent lives which causes suffering to countless families”.
This boat accident “is a demonstration of the risks desperate and fearful people are willing to take”, Ashton and Piebalgs state. The EU believes that it is the responsibility of all the country's leaders to ensure that situations like these do not happen. The EU urges all parties involved to agree “on an immediate, unconditional cessation to hostilities and violence, and engage in a political process under the auspices of IGAD [the intergovernmental authority on development in Eastern Africa]”.
“The EU is particularly preoccupied by the deteriorating humanitarian situation and reports of large-scale human rights violations”, the press release continues. According to the latest estimates, at least 10,000 people have been killed and more than 400,000 are now internally displaced in South Sudan, while close to 50,000 people are reportedly seeking refuge in neighbouring countries. (OL/transl.fl)