Church
Pope meets refugees in South Sudan: “Suffer with you”
Pope Francis meets internally displaced people in Juba, South Sudan. photo
© Gregorio Borgia/AP/dpa
Millions of people fled South Sudan’s civil war or were displaced within the country. The living conditions are catastrophic. Pope Francis expresses his condolences at a meeting.
In the face of one of the world’s largest refugee crises, Pope Francis has offered his condolences to the millions displaced in South Sudan. “I am with you. I suffer for you and with you,” the pontiff said at a meeting with internally displaced persons and migrants in Juba on Saturday. He was joined by Justin Welby as Primate of the Anglican Church and Iain Greenshields of the Church of Scotland. “We want to give wings to your hope in this meeting today,” said Francis.
The Argentine spoke to several hundred men, women and children in a large tent called Freedom Hall. The Pope admitted that he unfortunately knows that it is often impossible for the displaced to get out of the refugee camps.
Biggest refugee crisis in Africa
According to the UN Emergency Relief Office, there are more than two million internally displaced people in South Sudan, where civil war has raged for years and the situation is still fragile. Another 2.3 million people have fled to neighboring countries. At the same time, South Sudan has taken in around 300,000 refugees, mostly from Sudan. The United Nations ranks the refugee crisis as the largest in Africa and the third largest in the world. Women and children, some of whom have been victims of sexual violence, are particularly affected by displacement.
The UN has set up seven detention centers for internally displaced persons since 2013. In the largest, the Bentiu camp in the north of the country, the number of refugees has skyrocketed to 120,000 after nationwide flooding in 2022. Living conditions have worsened again. Clean drinking water is scarce and diseases such as cholera and malaria are making the rounds. Many children are malnourished.
Young people worry about their future
“I’m afraid of what my life and the lives of other children will be like in the future,” said 16-year-old Joseph Lat Gatmai, who lives in the Bentiu camp. Johnson Juma Alex, 14, told the pope that the camp was cramped and overcrowded. “There’s no place to play football. A lot of kids don’t go to school because there aren’t enough teachers or schools for everyone.”
On his pilgrimage, Francis calls for an end to violence in the country so that the refugees also have a chance. He places his hopes on women, who need special protection. “The mothers, the women, are the key to transforming the country.”