Devastating fire in Amiet Peace Market in Abyei
8th February 2021, 4pm
On the morning of 8th February 2021, a fire broke out and spread rapidly across the Amiet Peace Market, in the AbyeiAdministrative Area.
The fire destroyed a significant proportion of the five hundred shops in the market, as well as hundreds of tonnes of food, in a region that already faces acute food insecurity. The loss of the market and the burning of this produce will have a severely detrimental effect on the availability and the affordability of food across the region.
While the cause of this fire has not been determined, the short, medium and long-term impact is expected to be significant, not just in Abyei but also in neighbouring states, as people depend on this market for their livelihoods and as a hub for international trade between Sudan and South Sudan.
The Amiet Peace Market was established by the local community with support from UK-based Peacebuilding NGO, Concordis International, in 2016. It is considered an emblem of social cohesion and hope amongst communities in Abyei, since it is one of few places locally in which communities from North and South Sudan can interact, trade and meet. For Concordis and the handful of aid and development agencies working in Abyei, the market is a hub for engaging with the community and supporting people with infrastructure development.
Concordis International’s Chief Executive, Peter Marsden, was visiting the market at the time, and said:
“We were in a meeting with people from Sudan and South Sudan, planning the next stage of the peace process in Abyei, when we heard shouting. We ran outside to see a huge fire engulf the room we’d just left. The market’s made of traditional materials – wood, reeds and grass – and it caught hold terrifyingly fast. The heat was extraordinary.
It’s devastating to watch people’s livelihoods literally go up in smoke. People were very upset, trying to rescue what they could, but the fire was too hot.
This market is symbol of peace, and it’s a reason to keep the peace. When something like this happens, tensions and suspicion inevitably run high – it’s now more important than ever to keep the peace and to keep open the channels of communication between north and south.”
Background to Amiet Market
The setting up of Amiet Market in 2016 enabled intercommunity and international trade to resume. The market is widely seen as a reason to keep the peace on this contentious border. The market gives tangible benefits to both communities and even to both countries:
Many and diverse livelihoods have been created through trade, not aid, including for women and young people, who provide food, porterage and other services;
Food prices have been lowered and food availability increased, even during times of shortage elsewhere;
3,000 tonnes of goods are traded every week by the 500 store-holders;
Up to 10,000 people use the market each day;
The Market is a portal for goods traded internationally between Sudan and South Sudan, including food, livestock, vehicles, building materials, mobile phones, fuel and scrap metal; and
Notably, when the market closes for any length of time, food prices begin to rise, even in neighbouring counties, over a hundred miles away.
Briefing on Concordis International
Concordis is a UK registered peacebuilding charity that enables people affected by armed conflict to find lasting peace. We help women and men address the root causes of the conflicts that divide them, enabling them to build a safer and more prosperous future together.
An independent evaluation by the Stockholm Policy Group of Concordis’ programme in in Abyei, promoting peaceful cross-border trade and movements of livestock, found:
Concordis is a continuously respected, appreciated and important actor for supporting the peaceful management of cross-border conflicts in targeted border areas between South Sudan and Sudan. …Concordis is instrumental in supporting local mechanisms for peaceful cross-border seasonal migration, in the context of ongoing conflict between and within those two countries.
The damage to the Peace Market, the suspicions that it might have been arson and the terrible losses incurred by traders, are likely to evoke some very strong reactions. The Concordis team is redoubling our efforts in the coming days to manage that conflict, to try to prevent violence and to help channel that passion into positive action, rather than destructive reaction.
