The United States has placed visa restrictions on government officials and others in South Sudan who have blocked humanitarian supplies to the country by charging shipments, according to the State Department.
South Sudan, where hundreds of thousands of people died as a result of civil war between 2013 and 2018, is facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises due to ongoing warfare, natural catastrophes, and poverty.
U.N. missions there have said South Sudanese authorities are holding up United Nations fuel tankers over a tax dispute, jeopardising the delivery of millions of dollars of aid during a humanitarian crisis.
The visa restrictions would make those cited ineligible entry into the United States.
The United States has raised serious concerns about the South Sudan transitional government’s failure to satisfy its obligations under a 2018 peace agreement.
The accord calls for the creation of conditions that facilitate efficient humanitarian help while also protecting those in need.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the U.S., the UAE, the African Union, and the U.N. — negotiated the opening of two of three essential access routes into famine-stricken areas.
