The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Tambura-Yambio has urged the international community not to forget the ongoing conflict in South Sudan.

Warning that one immediate result of ignoring South Sudan now will be an increase in “the tide of refugees reaching Europe’s shores”, Bishop Barani Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura – Yambio called on world powers to “continue to play [a] pivotal role in persuading President Salva Kiir and former Vice-President Riek Machar, to return to the negotiating table and implement the power-sharing agreement they signed last August”.

Big numbers of refugees from Africa have died while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea in a bid to reach Europe. They either escape persecution or conflict in their countries.

Bishop Hiiboro urged the world powers to continue to play a pivotal role in persuading President Salva Kiir and former First Vice-President Dr. Riek Machar, to return to the negotiating table and implement the power-sharing agreement they signed in August last year.

He says with the political situation in South Sudan remaining precarious, thousands of citizens continue to seek shelter with religious communities and are relying on them for basic supplies.

Bishop Hiiboro says the country can have a brighter future only when churches and the international community support efforts to bring lasting peace to South Sudan.