As South Sudan implodes, America reconsiders its support for the regime
American officials are fed up with being lied to by a violent, crooked government
IT IS not as bad in South Sudan as people think, insists Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, the petroleum minister. The UN may claim that a third of the population have fled their homes, but that is an exaggeration, says the sharp-suited former diplomat.
Why, then, does he think the refugee camps are so full? Some people go there for the services, such as free food, he explains. Others have been scared by fake news, peddled by insurgents. “People are saying: ‘The Dinka [the largest ethnic group in South Sudan] are coming to kill you. You must leave!’” Seated in his plush office in Juba, the capital, Mr Gatkuoth scoffs that, when he was a rebel during South Sudan’s long war to break away from Sudan, his comrades used similar propaganda, telling people that the Arabs were coming to burn their villages and rape their children. “It was very effective,” he recalls.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline "Guns, germs and stealing"
Middle East & Africa October 14th 2017
- As South Sudan implodes, America reconsiders its support for the regime
- Sudan’s economy is in trouble, even without sanctions
- Raila Odinga takes a gamble by threatening to boycott Kenya’s election
- Scrapping the deal with Iran could embolden its hardliners
- Iraq’s recaptured territory is being neglected
- It will take years to clear up the rubble in the Middle East
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