so if we can come to order. thank you for being here. on april 27 of this year our subcommittee held a hearing on south sudan s prospects for peace. an accord that finally ended the civil war that broke out in december of 2013 was reluctantly signed by both the government of south sudan and the people s liberation movement in opposition in august of 2015. we were cautioned by ambassador booth at the time. and i remember your testimony on april 27th, mr. ambassador, when you said these are the most significant advancements yet in implementing the peace agreement, but you also cautioned and said it is only a first step towards lasting peace, the most difficult work still lies ahead. those words were prophetic and certainly very, very true, especially given what happened in july. peace was never fully established in south sudan as a result of the august agreement. in fact, as we all know, fighting spread to areas that had not previously seen armed conflict. an estimated 50,000
people to leave their homes and tens of thousands have been killed as fighting continues across the country. we re heading to malakal, a town that s changed hands more than six times since fighting began in december 2013. despite millions in international aid - and government coffers once flush with oil money - almost no roads have been built in south sudan. most commercial airlines stopped flying when the war started - so we re traveling with soldiers on united nations flights. there s a lot of armed guards across this airport. it s a un base in malakal. there was an attack here a few months ago. several un workers were kidnapped. so now there s heavy security everywhere. even the un now seems to operate in fear of the government it helped build. we were told government forces pushed the opposition a few miles down river just days before we arrived, but things were still tense. this was a town of a hundred and fifty-thousand people. it now feels like a ghost town. we ve come
each other. it s a war with an ethnic dimension, its caused 2 million people to leave their homes and tens of thousands have been killed as fighting continues across the country. we re heading to malakal, a town that s changed hands more than six times since fighting began in december 2013. despite millions in international aid - and government coffers once flush with oil money - almost no roads have been built in south sudan. most commercial airlines stopped flying when the war started - so we re traveling with soldiers on united nations flights. there s a lot of armed guards across this airport. it s a un base in malakal. there was an attack here a few months ago. several un workers were kidnapped. so now there s heavy security everywhere. even the un now seems to operate in fear of the government it helped build. we were told government forces pushed the opposition a few miles down river just days before we arrived, but things were still tense. this was a town of a hundred
the new president and vice president have gone to war with each other. it s a war with an ethnic dimension, its caused 2 million people to leave their homes and tens of thousands have been killed as fighting continues across the country. we re heading to malakal, a town that s changed hands more than six times since fighting began in december 2013. despite millions in international aid - and government coffers once flush with oil money - almost no roads have been built in south sudan. most commercial airlines stopped flying when the war started - so we re traveling with soldiers on united nations flights. there s a lot of armed guards across this airport. it s a un base in malakal. there was an attack here a few months ago. several un workers were kidnapped. so now there s heavy security everywhere. even the un now seems to operate in fear of the government it helped build. we were told government forces pushed the opposition a few miles down river just days before we arrived
people to leave their homes and tens of thousands have been killed as fighting continues across the country. we re heading to malakal, a town that s changed hands more than six times since fighting began in december 2013. despite millions in international aid - and government coffers once flush with oil money - almost no roads have been built in south sudan. most commercial airlines stopped flying when the war started - so we re traveling with soldiers on united nations flights. there s a lot of armed guards across this airport. it s a un base in malakal. there was an attack here a few months ago. several un workers were kidnapped. so now there s heavy security everywhere. even the un now seems to operate in fear of the government it helped build. we were told government forces pushed the opposition a few miles down river just days before we arrived, but things were still tense. this was a town of a hundred and fifty-thousand people. it now feels like a ghost town. we ve come