Germany shuts South Sudan Embassy amid civil war fears. German Embassy in Kampala, Uganda is open

THE German government said Saturday that it is temporarily shuttering its embassy in Juba, South Sudan amid safety concerns over a deteriorating security situation that is once again on the brink of civil war. The German Embassy in Kampala, Uganda is open as usual for passports etc. Read more.

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Report from Deutsche Welle (DW)
By Richard Connor with AFP, AP, dpa
Edited by Louis Oelofse
Dated Saturday, 22 March 2025 - full copy:

Germany shuts South Sudan embassy amid civil war fears

Berlin says it is temporarily shuttering its embassy in South Sudan amid safety concerns over a deteriorating security situation. Civil war once again looks in the world's youngest country.

Kiir (L) and Machar formed a transitional government but the arrangement now looks shaky. Image: Peter Louis Gume/AFP

The German Foreign Office on Saturday said it would temporarily close its embassy in South Sudan's capital, Juba, in light of renewed and escalating violence.

While President Salva Kiir Mayardit and his erstwhile opponent Riek Machar formed a joint government of national unity in 2020, the accord now threatens to collapse.

What the German government said

"After years of fragile peace, South Sudan is once again on the brink of civil war," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced.

"President Kiir and Vice President Machar are plunging the country into a spiral of violence. They have a responsibility to stop the senseless violence and finally implement the peace agreement," Baerbock continued.

The minister said the safety of employees was the top priority.

Why is South Sudan getting dangerous again?

South Sudan, with a population of around eleven million, went through a bloody civil war — with Kiir and Machar on opposite sides — after gaining independence from its northern neighbor Sudan in 2011.

Although they agreed to form a transitional government after a 2018 peace deal, with Machar as vice president, that arrangement looks perilously close to failing.

For weeks, a militia from the Nuer ethnic group, to which Machar belongs, has been fighting government soldiers on the border with Ethiopia.

The army accuses Machar's party of fueling the conflict, while Machar accuses Kiir of wanting to depose his supporters.

While the fighting is more than 1,300 kilometers (about 800 miles) from the capital, the sparks threaten to spread to other parts of the country. Warring parties in neighboring Sudan are also threatening to intervene.

German diplomats, together with representatives from Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Great Britain, the USA, and the EU, have offered to mediate between Kiir and Machar.

View original: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-shuts-south-sudan-embassy-amid-civil-war-fears/a-72007695

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Related

Report from and by The Associated Press (AP)

Dated Saturday, 22 March 2025 11:43 am - full copy:

Germany closes its embassy in South Sudan as it teeters on the brink of civil war

Image: Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks during a press conference in Damascus, Syria, Thursday, March 20, 2025. 

Credit: AP/Omar Sanadiki

BERLIN — The German government said Saturday that it is temporarily closing its embassy in South Sudan.

“After years of fragile peace, South Sudan is once again on the brink of civil war,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on social media platform Bluesky.

The crisis team of the German Foreign Office "has therefore decided to close the embassy in the capital Juba for the time being. The safety of the employees has top priority," she added.

Baerbock also wrote that South Sudan President Salva Kiir and his rival, Vice President Riek Machar, “are plunging the country into a spiral of violence. They have a responsibility to stop the senseless violence and finally implement the peace agreement.”

South Sudan has been plagued by political instability and violence since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011.

In 2018, a peace deal signed between Machar and Kiir ended a five-year civil war in which more than 400,000 people were killed. Machar serves as the country’s first vice president in a government of national unity, even though his political group opposes Kiir.

The political rivalry between the two men is widely seen as a major obstacle to peace in South Sudan, with Kiir suspicious of his deputy’s ambitions and Machar calling Kiir a dictator.

Image: Children sit and play on the remains of a tank, at the river port in Renk, South Sudan on May 17, 2023. Credit: AP/Sam Mednick

View original: https://www.newsday.com/news/nation/germany-south-sudan-war-embassy-e94461

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Notice on German Embassy in Juba, South Sudan and Kampala, Uganda

Image source: Violet IKong https://www.linkedin.com/posts/violet-ikong-3b7193166_saesdsudan-activity-7309312344772243456-bv2_

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Report from Deutsche Welle (DW)

By Beni van Essen 1 week ago

Why is South Sudan on edge again?

South Sudan’s security situation is volatile, as civil war-time leadership divisions deepen.

The UN has expressed concern, regional mediators are scrambling and a US evacuation is underway.

https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/why-is-south-sudan-on-edge-again/ar-AA1AMtRL

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Sudan army retakes Khartoum palace, RSF fights back

SUDAN'S army announces its fighters have entered the presidential palace in the centre of Khartoum. In recent weeks the army has stepped up its campaign against the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the city, which it lost at the start of the war in 2023. Reclaiming Khartoum would be a huge victory for the army and a pivotal moment in the conflict. But the RSF says it is fighting back and claims to have launched an attack on the palace. The RSF also still controls large parts of the country – including much of the west. The two-year civil war has caused the world's largest humanitarian crisis, according to the UN.

Source: BBC News Live Reporting Summary dated Fri 21 Mar 2025 GMT
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5y0w7pjnp2t
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BBC Verify has checked video and images appearing on social media showing Sudanese army forces around the presidential palace in Khartoum: We’ve matched the features of the buildings and grounds to images available on Google and visible on satellite imagery and checked that these videos have not appeared before. They show soldiers celebrating and announcing today’s date. Celebratory gunfire can also be heard. The footage also reveals extensive damage to the outside of the palace, as well as destruction inside one of the buildings.

Source: BBC Verify by Peter Mwai published Fri 21 Mar 2025 10:43 GMT

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5y0w7pjnp2t

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In pictures: Sudanese army celebrates

Many posts on social media are showing jubilant soldiers waving their guns in the air, cheering and kneeling to pray at the entrance to the presidential palace. Here are some stills from footage that's been recorded:

Source: BBC News Live Reporting published Fri 21 Mar 2025 09:13 GMT

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5y0w7pjnp2t?post=asset%3Aada8b5df-4c08-4fe3-9341-0ff9c927ef21#post

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Sudanese soldiers celebrate victory with selfies

More images have been coming through from earlier today of troops celebrating at the presidential palace. The soldiers have been sharing them on social media:

Source: BBC News Live reporting published Fri 21 Mar 2025 12:43 GMT UK

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5y0w7pjnp2t?post=asset%3A8aa2af5f-0b61-43f1-a282-b23dc6834056#post

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This is not the end of the war

The taking of the presidential palace and - if it happens - the recapture of the entire capital by the army would be a significant moment, but it is not the end of the two-year conflict. The RSF paramilitary force still controls large parts of the country, including much of the western Darfur region which has seen some of the deadliest violence over the past two years.

Source: BBC News Live reporting published Fri 21 Mar 2025 09:18 GMT

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5y0w7pjnp2t?post=asset%3A8c407307-14ca-4ed5-a201-46a7d97c8c37#post

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UK statement at UNSC: In April, UK's Foreign Secretary will convene FM's in London to help end Sudan conflict and improve humanitarian response

HERE is a speech by UK's Lord Collins of Highbury, Minister for Africa and the UN, at the UN Security Council meeting on Sudan held 13 March 2025.

Note, fighting in Sudan has displaced approximately 12.8 million people, roughly 3.7 million of whom have sought refuge in Sudan’s neighbouring countries—the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan, and Uganda. Read more in report from What's in Blue below.

In April, the UK’s Foreign Secretary will convene Foreign Ministers in London to help end the conflict and to improve the humanitarian response.

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From Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office 

and Lord Collins of Highbury

Published: Thursday 13 March 2025
Speech location: United Nations, New York
Delivered on 13 March 2025 (Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered) - full copy:

Greater international action is needed to tackle widespread sexual violence in Sudan: UK statement at the UN Security Council

Statement by Lord Collins of Highbury, Minister for Africa and the UN, at the UN Security Council meeting on Sudan.

Thank you to our briefers UNICEF and MSF. 

As you have made clear, women and girls in Sudan continue to face the worst horrors of this conflict.

Almost two years since the fighting began, more than 12 million people are now at risk of sexual and gender-based violence, according to UNICEF reports. 

And Sudan’s healthcare system has been decimated by the conflict, making it even harder for survivors to access support.

The UK’s Foreign Secretary travelled to the Sudan-Chad border in January and met survivors of sexual violence who shared their harrowing stories of rape and torture.

And the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan has reported that rape and gang rape is widespread in the context of the conflict in Sudan.

Acts of sexual violence constitute crimes under international law. 

And it is the responsibility of this Council to act.

President, it is clear that greater international action is needed to tackle widespread sexual violence in Sudan. The United Kingdom is committed to playing its part.

This week I joined a meeting of the International Alliance on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, convened by Ukraine, to discuss the urgent need for joined-up, survivor-centred responses.

Through the UK-funded Women’s Integrated Sexual Health programme, we are providing sexual and reproductive services to women and children in Sudan.

We are also working with UN and NGO partners to provide safe spaces, mobile clinic treatment, dignity kits and psycho-social services for survivors.

But to have most impact, it is important that the international community comes together to address sexual violence in Sudan by taking 4 key steps.

First, by continuing to press the warring parties to comply with the commitments they made to protect civilians in the Jeddah Declaration.

Second, by giving support to civil society organisations on the ground who are playing a crucial role in assisting survivors of sexual violence.

Third, by supporting the International Criminal Court and the UN Fact-Finding Mission to carry out impartial investigations.

And fourth, by ensuring that the protection of civilians remains at the top of this Council’s agenda.

President, looking ahead, in April, the UK’s Foreign Secretary will convene Foreign Ministers in London to help end the conflict and to improve the humanitarian response.

Bringing an end to the conflict will be a critical step towards ending sexual and gender-based violence in Sudan.

Colleagues, we must continue working together closely until we achieve that goal.

View original: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/greater-international-action-is-needed-to-tackle-widespread-sexual-violence-in-sudan-uk-statement-at-the-un-security-council

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Related

Report from What's In Blue 

Dated Wednesday 12 March 2025

Sudan: Briefing

Nearly two years into the war, which started on 15 April 2023, Sudan has witnessed a devastating humanitarian crisis, resulting in significant civilian casualties, mass displacement, and acute food and water shortages. 

The crisis has also been marked by a collapse of healthcare and essential services and grave violations of international humanitarian law, including widespread incidents of CRSV.

The fighting has displaced approximately 12.8 million people, roughly 3.7 million of whom have sought refuge in Sudan’s neighbouring countries—the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan, and Uganda.

Full story: https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2025/03/sudan-briefing-5.php

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