Returnees and refugees boarding the vehicles that will take them from Joda border point, between South Sudan and Sudan, to the Transit Centre in Renk. © Kristen Poels/MSF

The Governor of Upper Nile State disclosed that the suspension of U.S. foreign assistance has affected many humanitarian organizations serving internally displaced persons, returnees, and refugees in the area.

UN agencies say more than one million people have poured into South Sudan from war-torn Sudan since April 2023, setting a new record in the ongoing humanitarian and displacement crisis ignited by nearly two years of fighting.

According to data published by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the highest influx of more than 770,200 entered through the Joda border point in Renk County in Upper Nile.

However, since the end of January, relief organizations providing assistance to the displaced populations were hit with funding shortage when USAID contractors received a stop work order, following the new U.S. administration’s decision to suspend global aid for 90 days.

Upper Nile Governor James Odhok stated that most activities of non-governmental organizations in the transit center in Renk and other camps have stopped due to a lack of funding.

According to him, organizations that rely on USAID funding have been impacted prompting them to halt some of their operations.

Governor Odhok added that the state government and the aid agencies are trying utilize the minimum resources to transport and resettle the displaced.

“We have taken the necessary precautions. However, some decisions by the American president have halted the operations of certain organizations working in the area, but we are working diligently,” he said.

He said the transportation capacity for refugees and returnees from the border state onward to Juba and other states has been remarkably reduced.

“Currently, refugees are being transported, but not as before when one or two planes would arrive daily. Now, the International Organization for Migration provides one plane daily, and others are transported by riverboats, sometimes more than three times a day.”

“Some organizations that receive support from America, such as World Vision and others, have ceased their activities due to a lack of funding, while others continue their operations.”