UNHCR strongly condemns senseless attacks on aid workers, calls for increased protection
An SSPDF soldier enters a vehicle in an unspecified location (Photo: Supplied.
Dec 3th, 2019 (SSNN)-The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been outraged by the recent incident in which humanitarian workers were targeted and their property ransacked over the weekend by unknown gunmen in Maban.
Babar Baloch, UNHCR spokesperson, said the recent attacks on humanitarian workers underscore how difficult it is for aid workers to discharge their duties in South Sudan.
“UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is calling for increased protection for aid workers in South Sudan after this weekend’s targeting of an international relief agency by armed men,” said UNHCR Spokesperson, Babar.
The attack on the Relief International’s staff occurred on Sunday when armed men, stormed into an NGO compound in Bunj town in Upper Nile’s Maban County, severely assaulting staff and seizing their property.
“UNHCR strongly condemns this senseless act against aid workers who were there to improve the lives of refugees and vulnerable South Sudanese nationals.
The past few months have seen an increase in attacks on aid workers in the country. Sunday’s violence happened only a month after three United Nations staff working in South Sudan’s Central Equatoria Region were killed.”
The UN Refugees Agency, strongly condemned the act and said South Sudan remains as the ‘world’s most violent places to deliver aid’.
“Ensuring the safety and security of aid workers in South Sudan has now become a major challenge. This continuously hampers humanitarian action for some of the world’s most desperate people.”
The UN urged respect for aid workers and the safety of the country’s civilian population. “UNHCR calls for enhanced respect for international humanitarian and human rights law to protect civilians and humanitarian workers from violence and to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice immediately.”
OCHA strongly condemns the attacks on aid staff
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs expressed its outrage at the recent violence against local and foreign aid workers.
“The Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, Alain Noudéhou, has strongly condemned brutal attacks on humanitarian aid workers in the Maban area of South Sudan, insisting the perpetrators be brought to justice immediately.”
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