Lawmaker urges ’emergency state standing’ order to end child abduction in Jonglei

JUBA – A South Sudanese lawmaker is calling on the government of Jonglei state to declare what he called Emergency State Standing Order (SSO) to end child abductions in the state.

David De Dau, who represents Jonglei State at Revitalized Transitional National Legislative Assembly made this call during the three-day Peace Conference for Greater Bor organized by UN Refugee Agency in Bor.

“On behalf of the Juba team, my advice is that there is a need for an Emergency State Standing Order (SSO) to drastically deal with the issue of cattle raiding and abduction of children and women,” Dau at a closed down peace conference held in Bor on Thursday.

“Thereafter, they would become criminally liable. The idea with this is that many abductors might take advantage of the amnesty offered and release abductees sooner to avoid being caught after the deadline,” Dau added.

The lawmaker believed that the order will pave way for the communities of Murlei, Dinka Bor, and Lou Nuer to live in peace and harmony.

“As participants, we delved more on the need to return abducted children and women to their home of origin and the first approach is to give peaceful and voluntary handing over of abducted children and women to their state authorities a chance,” he said.

He said the order should contain a grace period to allow individuals harboring abductees to release and return them without criminal sanctions.

“In the spirit of implementation of such a State Standing Order, a deadline for handing over abducted women and children must be set after which anyone holding any abducted member of any community must be declared criminal and held account for it,” he explained.

He also stressed the need for the establishment of Cattle raiding and Abduction Prevention Squote (CAPS) to deal with issues of Cattle raiding and Abduction of children and women.

“The State Standing Order (SSO) on Cattle raiding and Abduction of women and children should involve local informers, CSOs, and security agents to report on those still holding children at their custody,” he said.