A South Sudanese woman receiving food provided by Humanitarian organizations in South Sudan - Credit: UNOCHA

The International Community has reiterated calls on the South Sudan government to end “illicit” taxation on imports from diplomatic missions and United Nations agencies to ease humanitarian response in the country.

This comes as the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported in March 2024 that nine million people require humanitarian assistance in South Sudan this year.

OCHA said the country continues to grapple with an escalating humanitarian crisis marked by subnational violence, climate change, displacement, and soaring living costs, pushing millions of families into food and nutrition insecurity.

Meanwhile, the embassies of Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States have renewed their call on the government to end the policy.

“The embassies renew their call on the transitional government to immediately halt recent actions that have imposed illicit and unacceptable costs on donor governments, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), United Nations agencies, and their implementing partners,” a joint statement said.

The statement stressed the imposition of the ePetroleum Accreditation Permit requirement on UN fuel trucks, which is preventing these trucks from bringing fuel into South Sudan to support UN operations.

“This illicit action is severely impacting the ability of UNMISS, UN humanitarian agencies, and humanitarian partners to conduct their mission in support of the South Sudanese people.”

The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is considering scaling down its security operations across the country due to fuel supplies held at the border with Uganda over the issue.

At the same time, UNMISS said it is responding to rising inter-communal conflicts in Western Equatoria and Eastern Equatoria, where it has deployed additional peacekeepers to reinforce its bases.

UNMISS discloses that it dispatched an additional 76 military peacekeepers to reinforce the Tambura temporary base, protect displaced families, and boost patrols in the surrounding area.

“Despite the ongoing fuel blockade which is threatening UNMISS’ ability to carry out our work, we are doing our utmost to help protect civilians caught up in intercommunal conflict and prevent further violence,” said the head of UNMISS, Nicholas Haysom on Tuesday.

“We urge the Government to ensure that the UN can continue to work without impediment to help protect civilians, support the safe delivery of humanitarian aid to vulnerable communities, and progress the development of institutions, infrastructure, and critical services across the country.”

South Sudanese farmers who have relied on UN agencies for assistance told Voice of America they are afraid of losing a ready market for their produce should the U.N. scale down operations.