The United Nations humanitarian chief has called for unhindered access for aid distribution in famine-hit South Sudan amid continued violence in the country.
The call comes after the recent looting of a humanitarian organization in the world’s youngest nation.
Stephen O’Brien decried the obstacles to humanitarian assistance in South Sudan, including active hostility, access denials and bureaucratic impediments.
“People have been displaced, brutalized and raped. They have been attacked when they sought out assistance. This must stop, and it must stop now,” O’Brien said in a statement.
South Sudan descended into violence in December 2013 following President Salva Kiir’s allegations that his then-deputy Riek Machar was plotting a coup against his government. Machar refuted the allegations but then went on to mobilize a rebel force to fight the government.
A peace deal that was signed in 2015 has continually been violated by both sides, prompting the U.N. to warn that the situation could deteriorate into genocide.
The world agency has now listed South Sudan as Africa’s largest refugee crisis, with more than 3 million people displaced from their homes.
