An Airdrie man is back home after escaping the jaws of Civil War in his birth country.

Doctor Chiek, a Canadian citizen and Airdrie resident, returned to South Sudan in December of 2015 and a few months later decided to join a peace convoy to the capital city of Juba.

Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse on July 7th, 2016 when the government declared war on the opposition and their supporters.

"The government started war on the opposition and many people were killed," says Chiek, "We were in the camp, we were not with the armoured people. They fought the war in Juba and the opposition opted to withdraw."

According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the country has been in Civil War since 2013, when the President accused those in his own government of plotting to overthrow him.*

Thousands have been killed in the war so far with thousands more placed in IDP (internally displaced persons) camps set up by the United Nations. That's where Chiek stayed for many months.

"We were kept against our will by the government of Juba because the government of Juba is just a tribalistic government. Doesn't respect human rights. There's no acting out of rule of law."

Eventually, the Airdrie man was able to escape after negotiating with the government and the US Embassy who were working to release their own people from the IDP camps. Chiek's claim was received and he was released and began his journey home on April 1st, 2017.

Chiek's big struggle is to find work after he was let go from his last job before heading to South Sudan.

His hope right now is to share his story and bring to light to the devastation still happening across his birth country.

"I want to tell the world that the government in Juba is not a government. It's just a menace, there's no human rights, there's no anything. Only to kill people so they stay."

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* info from http://www.cfr.org/global/global-conflict-tracker/p32137#!/conflict/civil-war-in-south-sudan

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