The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is scheduled to meet South Sudanese President Salva Kiir to further push him into agreeing to peace.
Nikki who landed in Ethiopia earlier this week visited Gambella, where more than 300,000 South Sudanese refugees are camped after fleeing the war in their country.
Reuters reports her to have been both shocked and angered by the sight of the set up. After her visit, she is quoted to have asked a small group of reporters: “How can the international community allow this to go on?”
Haley on Tuesday said that the U.S. would seek other means to push President Kiir to agree to peace, other than cutting funding.
“You have to really think hard before you pull U.S. aid because President Kiir doesn’t care,” she said. “He doesn’t care if his people suffer and that’s the concern we have as we don’t know that will make a difference.”
The South Sudan conflict erupted in December 2013, after President Salva Kiir accused his then deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup against his government. Machar denied the allegations but then went on to mobilize a rebel force to fight the government.
The war has claimed thousands of lives and forced millions others to flee their homes.
After her visit to Gambella, Haley said: “I was mad when I left the camp… The fact that this is a man-made conflict, that one man has done so much harm to so many people, it’s heartbreaking.”
Haley is the most senior member of President Donald Trump’s administration to visit South Sudan since he took over earlier this year.
