Tag: United Nations

South Sudan: “Fragile” State Ravaged by Famine and War

Sufyan bin UzayrLeave a comment
South Sudan Refugee Camp

If you are looking for a country afflicted with every possible horror one can think of, South Sudan does a good job at coming first. Things have been going downhill ever since South Sudan came into being, and there are hardly any signs of anything changing for the better.

South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, also happens to be the most volatile and unstable. It is currently one small step away from total collapse — the Fragile States Index lists South Sudan as the country most likely to fail.

But how can things possibly be that bad in South Sudan? This question is not difficult to answer.  Continue reading “South Sudan: “Fragile” State Ravaged by Famine and War”

Remembering Dayton Accords, 1995

Sufyan bin Uzayr
dayton-agreement-1995

Back in the early 1990s, a war broke out in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Over 100,000 people lost their lives, and over two million were displaced. Rape, prison camps and genocide of Bosnian Muslims became common during the war, and it would eventually be marked as the worst conflict in Europe ever since the end of the Second World War.

Peace was established on November 21, 1995, as part of the General Framework Agreement For Peace, commonly known as the Dayton Accords. Formally signed on December 14 of 1995, the Dayton Accords are remembered today as an unfair treaty that ended the war but preserved the hostilities. Continue reading “Remembering Dayton Accords, 1995”

South Sudan: Nothing But Violence

Sufyan bin Uzayr
South Sudan War

Four years have passed since South Sudan seceded from Sudan, and the only thing it has earned so far is violence and internal crisis that seems to have no end in sight. The international community has stood by South Sudan’s side, but the new country has repeatedly let everyone down.

The ongoing violence and civil war in South Sudan has killed and displaced millions of innocent civilians. This young country, carved forcibly out of Africa’s largest nation (erstwhile undivided Sudan), is a living example of a failed state.

But that is not all: recently, South Sudan decided to expel UN officials from its territory, out of fear that cases of human rights violations might reach the rest of the world. Calls to reconsider the decision went unheard, and the United Nations Security Council was forced to impose travel bans and sanctions in response.  Continue reading “South Sudan: Nothing But Violence”

South Sudan: From Bad To Worse

Sufyan bin Uzayr

Back in 2011, South Sudan broke away from Sudan and declared itself as an independent state. Western media verticals, as well as many pro-secession pundits claimed that statehood will usher in a new era of prosperity and growth for South Sudan, and eventually, even Sudan will have to acknowledge the superiority of the South Sudanese state.

Apparently, those dreams are yet to come true, and with things going the way they currently are, prospects do not seem promising for South Sudan.

In fact, I have written about South Sudan multiple times: back in 2013 itself, I termed South Sudan to be a failed state — I am yet to be proven wrong. In 2014, troubled by the loss of life and property in South Sudan, I questioned the logic of secession, and even thought of ways to fix the blunder named South Sudan.

However, all said and done, South Sudan continues to prove itself as a failed state. Continue reading “South Sudan: From Bad To Worse”

Sudan Can Fix South Sudan’s Problems

Sufyan bin Uzayr
south-sudan-sudan-problems

In spite of the recent peace deal, the conflict in South Sudan seems to be far from over. Almost all the regional and international players that are involved in the peace process have their own agenda to pursue, and this has left the South Sudanese people highly vulnerable.

Amidst all this conflict, Sudan has managed to keep quiet. However, time has come for Sudan to be pro-active and play a bigger role in the current conflict in South Sudan. In all likelihood, only Sudan can pave the path towards sustainable peace in South Sudan. Continue reading “Sudan Can Fix South Sudan’s Problems”

Crimea Joins Russia: What About International Law?

Sufyan bin Uzayr
crimea-russia-wikimedia

Back on March 4, American President Barack Obama talked about the crisis in Crimea:

There is a strong belief that Russia’s action is violating international law. I know President Putin seems to have a different set of lawyers making a different set of interpretations, but I don’t think that’s fooling anybody.

On the basis of Obama’s words, one can assume international law to be nothing beyond a set of beliefs that are classified as acceptable or unacceptable, depending on which side of the spectrum one chooses to stand.

As a result, when Crimean voters decided to secede from Ukraine and unite with Russia, what role did international law play in the picture? Again, you cannot properly define something that is viewed as more a matter of ‘strong belief’ than that of ‘codified norms’, but the verdicts and opinions of the International Court of Justice are well worth discussing here.  Continue reading “Crimea Joins Russia: What About International Law?”