Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Se\u00e1n Crowe TD, has welcomed the news\u00a0that a ceasefire in South Sudan, which comes after four days of heavy fighting, appears to be holding.<\/p>\n
Deputy Se\u00e1n Crowe said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIntense fighting broke out in South Sudan\u2019s capital Juba on Thursday and it has resulted in\u00a0270 deaths, with many more\u00a0injured, and thousands being forced to flee their homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis latest outbreak of violence risks dragging South Sudan into a civil war but I\u00a0particularly welcome the news\u00a0that President Salva Kiir and his rival, Vice-President Riek Machar, have called for a ceasefire and this appears to be gaining momentum.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe attacks on civilians, as well the attacks on UN and humanitarian personnel, are an\u00a0extremely worrying development. Heavy-weapons fire also hit the maternity wing of an International Medical Corps hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile I welcome this ceasefire I am appealing to all sides to step back from brink of outright war and to ensure that a fair and inclusive peace is brokered, with the help of the international community.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m\u00a0also aware and conscious of the fact that Irish citizens working for humanitarian organisations are\u00a0based in South Sudan, and that many of them have been under lockdown for their own safety\u00a0in the UN compound in Juba.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been informed that the Irish Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has been in regular contact with all Irish citizens in South Sudan and that they are providing the necessary consular services. I want to broadly welcome this and the news that\u00a0all the Irish based there\u00a0are safe and well.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
ENDS<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Se\u00e1n Crowe TD, has welcomed the news\u00a0that a ceasefire in South Sudan, which comes after four days of heavy fighting, appears to be holding. Deputy Se\u00e1n Crowe said: \u201cIntense fighting broke out in South Sudan\u2019s capital Juba on Thursday and it has resulted in\u00a0270 deaths, with many more\u00a0injured, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[244,109,168],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-south-sudan","category-un","category-un-peacekeeping"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2729"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2730,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2729\/revisions\/2730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}