South Sudan’s civil war endangers 12,000 child soldiers

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In what country does an armed militia force a 9-year-old girl to pick up a gun and become a child soldier, joining 12,000 other child soldiers at war? In what country are 50,000 to 100,000 people killed in a year of savage fighting, with nobody keeping count and the world barely noticing, while another four million are teetering on the brink of famine?

This is not Ukraine or Syria or Iraq. It's not a strategically important country that commands the global spotlight. Nor is it a place of Islamist extremism or terrorist bombs or anti-Western rhetoric or Russian interference. In fact, to confound the usual stereotypes, it is a pro-Western Christian-led country, a country that has enjoyed billions of dollars in Western aid.

South Sudan, the world's youngest country, continues to stagger from disaster to disaster this year, as a brutal civil war deepens. Yet, shamefully, its leaders refuse to halt the fighting. Ceasefires are routinely broken, politicians walk away from the bargaining table, and agreements are widely violated. The latest peace talks collapsed again this month.

In a rare bit of good news, UNICEF reported on Saturday that about 250 child soldiers – including the 9-year-old girl – had been released by the Cobra Faction, one of the many armed militias in the South Sudan fighting. Yet up to 3,000 child soldiers are still being held by the Cobra Faction, and a total of more than 12,000 child soldiers are still believed to be conscripted in the country's various armies and militias.

Just a few weeks ago, UNICEF reported on a shocking case in Upper Nile State, in the north of South Sudan. At least 89 children, and probably hundreds, were abducted as they were preparing for school exams and forced to join an armed militia. UNICEF warned that the children were seen at a training camp and could be on the verge of being sent to the front line to fight. The children had been forcibly conscripted by the Shilluk militia, under the control of Johnson Oloni, which is aligned with government troops, UNICEF said.

Mediators have tried endlessly to bring together the main combatants in peace talks, but the talks have always collapsed. President Salva Kiir has stubbornly refused to make concessions to his rival, rebel leader Riek Machar. The latest talks fell apart on March 7, and there are still no signs of compromise today.

The result is continuing catastrophe for the ordinary people of the country. Despite its oil wealth and the huge amounts of aid that it receives from foreign donors, the war between Mr. Kiir's army and Mr. Machar's rebels has devastated South Sudan since it erupted in December, 2013.

After 15 months of war, one-third of the country's 12 million people are now dependent on emergency food aid. One-sixth of its population has been uprooted, forced to flee to temporary shelter inside or outside the country. About 2.5 million South Sudanese are in acute hunger, at risk of starvation or severe malnutrition if the food aid doesn't continue.

While nobody in the government has bothered to keep track of the death toll from the war, the International Crisis Group estimated last year that at least 50,000 have been killed in the fighting – and perhaps as many as 100,000. The fact that nobody knows the death toll is a shocking indictment of the neglect that fuels the fighting.

One of South Sudan's most loyal supporters, the United States, is wringing its hands in frustration and despair. "We strongly condemn the lack of political leadership to resolve this man-made conflict that has exacted a terrible cost over the past nearly 15 months," the U.S. State Department said in a statement this month after the latest peace talks collapsed.

"There is no excuse for further fighting, and we will ensure that those who commit acts of violence – or otherwise undermine efforts toward peace – are held accountable," the U.S. statement said.

It was referring to the threat of United Nations sanctions against the leaders of South Sudan's warring factions, which could include an arms embargo, worldwide travel bans and asset freezes. But despite efforts to ratchet up the pressure and intensify the diplomatic threats, nothing seems to have worked, and the fighting continues.

A worse nightmare looms. The rainy season, which begins in earnest in May, will make it more difficult to distribute aid to the hungry and weak. Analysts are predicting that Mr. Kiir's government forces could launch a major offensive in April, at a huge cost in human lives.

A new report by Refugees International, a U.S.-based aid group, reveals the depth of the unfolding humanitarian disaster. "I met families who scavenged for water lilies," one aid worker told the group. "They told me, 'If we find water lilies, we eat. If not, we go hungry.'"