South Sudan: Two Anglican bishops released after four days of military detention in Awerial County

THIS is a strange story. Wondering what Charles Haskins would make of it.

From Radio Tamazuj, Mingkaman 
Dated Friday, 5 January 2024 - here is a copy in full:

Awerial: Two Anglican bishops released after four days in jail

Two bishops under Bishop Bol Arok of the Anglican Church of South Sudan were freed from military detention in Mingkaman of Awerial County of Lakes State on Thursday [4 Jan].

On December 31, 2023, members of the South Sudan People's Defense Force (SSPDF) stormed an Anglican Church in Puluk Payam of Awerial County during Sunday services. They brutally beat up church members, including a 7-year-old child.

The SSPDF soldiers shut down the church and arrested Michael Jalang, Bishop of the Anglican Church and Peter Adum Deng, Bishop of Twic East Diocese of Jonglei State.

The arrests were made after the Puluk community rejected Bishop Jalang's request to set up his church in Malual-Tuk Boma of Puluk Payam, creating tensions.

Bishop Jalang left the Awerial Diocese of the Episcopal Church in 2020 after he fell out with Diocesan Bishop David Akau.

The misunderstanding occurred in 2020 when Bishop Akau was suspended by the Primate of the Anglican Church of South Sudan, Justin Badi Arama, to resolve his family issue after being accused of cohabitation.

On September 12, 2021, the Archbishop of South Sudan Anglican Church, His Grace Peter Bol Arop, and his counterpart Joseph Muchai—who is the Archbishop of Nakuru Archdiocese in Kenya— appointed Bishop Michael Jalang Jalueth and assigned him to the Anglican Diocese of Awerial County.

Peter Adum Deng, Bishop of Twic East Diocese of Jonglei State, told Radio Tamazuj on Friday that they were released following a riot by their Church members, forcing the Governor of Lakes State, Rin Tueng Mabor, to order their release.

"Our release happened because there were riots all over the country from our members who called the governor of the state because arresting bishops is a violation of freedom of worship in the country. So our members had to raise the alarm," said Bishop Deng.

For his part, Michael Jalang, Bishop of Anglican Church in Awerial County, said that the soldiers beat up worshipers and confiscated church equipment.

"The commandeering officer beat up one of the pastors who came to listen to our conversation with them. He hit him on the back with a stick, and the soldiers came and also beat up the pastor and pulled him down on the ground, and when he stood up, he passed blood through the mouth. He was thrown into the car, and the soldiers immediately started beating up civilians who came to worship God," said Jalang.

He said the pastor tortured by SSPDF soldiers is in critical condition and has been transported to Juba for further medical attention.

"They beat up young boys and women, and they were thrown into the car and covered with blankets and tents, and they poured water and fuel on them, and the soldiers sat on them. They entered the church and destroyed sound-speakers and cut the wire of microphone, and they took chairs including money, watch and the phone of the youth. I was arrested with the bishop and we were taken to Guolyar," he explained.

For his part, Philip Mawut Garang, Commissioner of Awerial County, said he shut down the Church to prevent fighting following a misunderstanding between the bishop and community members.

He said the misunderstanding arose when Bishop Jalang insisted on setting up his church in Malual-Tuk of Puluk Payam after the Puluk community rejected his church's establishment in the area.

Commissioner Garang denied the claim that the soldier beat up pastors and shut down the church, adding the bishops were released.

"That is not true because our concern as a government is security, and if we receive a report of insecurity, we can't allow it to happen. The allegation of the beating of pastors is not true. They were told by the government authorities to report to Mingkaman, but they refused and decided to continue with services by all means," he said.

View original: https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/awerial-two-anglican-bishops-released-after-four-days-in-jail

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Global Refugee Forum: 114m people are refugees or displaced, 90% of world's refugees are in 40 countries

"One hundred and fourteen million people – that's more than live in Egypt and almost as many as are in Japan – are refugees or displaced. Ninety percent of the world's refugees are in just 40 countries.  Seventy five percent of the world's refugees are being hosted by low and middle-income states, yet most financing goes to upper-middle income states. Just 4% of funding is going to countries of refugee origin. With these statistics ringing in our ears, the Global Refugee Forum began in Geneva". Read more.

From Anglican News
By Glen Ruffle

Dated 18 December 2023, 1:35 PM - here is a copy in full:

Anglicans at the Global Refugee Forum

The Anglican Communion’s Assistant Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, The Revd Glen Ruffle, recently attended the Global Refugee Forum. He writes:

One hundred and fourteen million people – that's more than live in Egypt and almost as many as are in Japan – are refugees or displaced. Ninety percent of the world's refugees are in just 40 countries.  Seventy five percent of the world's refugees are being hosted by low and middle-income states, yet most financing goes to upper-middle income states. Just 4% of funding is going to countries of refugee origin.

With these statistics ringing in our ears, the Global Refugee Forum began in Geneva.

Held over 13–15 December, with side-events and build-up events beforehand, the Global Refugee Forum was arranged by the UN's Refugee agency, UNHCR, which gathered the world's states, along with NGOs, churches, faith organisations, and refugees themselves, to discuss the situation and what can be done.

The number of wars across the world is at a decades-level high; climate change is destroying agricultural land; famine and drought is increasing. Unless we invest in addressing these root causes, the numbers of refugees will continue to increase dramatically. Many will lose 20 years of their lives in government processing and relocating before they can properly settle and move forwards.

The sad fact is that UNHCR is still waiting for $400 million of funding promised by the world's states, yet never delivered. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, still host to more than half a million Syrian refugees, has only received 23% of the money promised to help. States can also work smarter: investing in much-need conflict-prevention measures, rather than dealing reactively, and with much greater expense, with every new crisis.

Anglicans, and Christians more broadly, will continue helping refugees with or without state or UN involvement, but it was important to place on the UN map, and to make the world know, that the Anglican Communion's churches are out there, doing the work, and often doing so on minimal budgets without support.

Provinces from around the Anglican Communion contributed to making pledges of what we hope to do over the next four years. Canada pledged to help resettle refugees; Tanzania pledged to advocate for refugees and ensure they receive proper care and have access to things like Savings Groups to build a future. The Province of Alexandria's Diocese of Egypt pledged to give holistic care via Refuge Egypt to help with integration of the refugees flooding into Egypt. The Church of England's Diocese in Europe has numerous projects, led by local churches across the continent, ranging from supporting refugees and advocating for them in Calais through to the distribution of aid in Bucharest.

The Episcopal Church pledged to advocate for the goals of UNHCR, support refugee resettlement and continue its refugee care. And the wider Anglican Communion pledged to place the care of refugees on the agenda at high-level meetings, to make sure Provinces discuss what they are doing and look at collaboration, and also to support the mental health of refugee children and to help develop faith-sensitive care.

States need to turn their pledges into action, deliver the money they promised and invest more seriously in conflict prevention. Beyond that, we hope to see greater collaboration between states, UN agencies and faith groups already doing the work to enable more effective delivery of support to those most in need. People of faith are often those on the front lines responding to crises and have the local trust and influence to begin to identify and address root causes. Strengthening this collaboration will be a focus of our work in the years to come.

It is not too late to add pledges from the Anglican Communion. If you want to explore a pledge, contact glen.ruffle@anglicancommunion.org

 

View original: https://www.anglicannews.org/blogs/2023/12/anglicans-at-the-global-refugee-forum.aspx

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