Aliab community seeks development aid from UK for historical abuses

JUBA – Leaders from the Aliab Dinka ethnic group in South Sudan’s Lakes State are seeking development assistance from the British government as compensation for atrocities committed during the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium rule over a century ago.

The Aliab claim that more than 500 people from their community were killed by British soldiers between 1919 and 1920.

They also allege the looting of over 20,000 cattle, the burning of homes, and the abduction of 275 women.

Justice Ayak Kom Awan, a member of the Aliab Dinka and a Supreme Court Justice, told Sudans Post on Wednesday that the community desires compensation in the form of development projects.

“Our demand is for compensation in the form of development,” Awan said. “We need schools, hospitals, feeder roads connecting villages, veterinary services, and agricultural support.”

Awan referenced the 2013 compensation package of 20 million British Pounds awarded by the UK to Kenyans who suffered during the Mau Mau uprising, arguing for similar recognition for the Aliab.

“We have met with British Embassy officials who denied compensation, fearing it would open the door for similar claims,” Awan explained. “We point out that they compensated Kenyans, so why not the Aliab people?”

The Aliab claim that resources looted from them during the colonial era funded the construction of significant buildings in South Sudan.

“The state house, known as J-1, and the Central Equatoria State Government Secretariat were allegedly built using funds derived from the 20,000 cattle looted by the British administration,” Awan said.

According to Awan, violence erupted on October 30, 1919, after the arrest of Aliab men by police. Over 3,000 Aliab warriors attacked a police station in Mingkaman to free their kin, leading to a deadly clash.

Lieutenant Colonel Richard Finch White responded by deploying companies from the Egyptian army’s Equatoria Battalion.

Colonel Robert Henry Darwall then led a punitive expedition in 1920 that quelled the uprising but resulted in an estimated 500 deaths and the raiding of 20,000 cattle.