Thursday, 11 December 2025
The United States of America rebukes the South Sudanese transitional government for continuing to impose illicit costs on those trying to help its people, most recently by imposing exorbitant fees on humanitarian shipments and by obstructing UN peacekeeping operations.
In a press statement shared with this news outlet, the US government says the actions constitute egregious violations of South Sudan’s international obligations and calls on the transitional government to halt these actions immediately.
“If it does not, the United States will initiate a comprehensive review of our foreign assistance in South Sudan with the likelihood of making significant reductions,” the statement partly read.
“South Sudan’s leaders deny any responsibility for the humanitarian crisis in their country while calling for ever increasing donor funding. This is a false narrative. The humanitarian crisis in South Sudan is driven by poor governance, a failure to spend public revenue for the benefit of the people, the insecurity created by South Sudanese leaders, and the predatory rent-seeking that is directed against humanitarian aid.”
The United States government says its support for the South Sudanese people is well known, saying it has provided over $9.5 billion in foreign assistance since South Sudan’s independence in 2011.
“During the same period, the transitional government has received an estimated $25 billion in oil revenue, which it has repeatedly failed to use to address compounding public needs. The transitional government should start being a partner to those trying to help its people rather than obstructing their work.”
“The South Sudanese people should see public revenue used appropriately, including for payment of public sector salaries, funding of health and education services, and support for people in need.”
The U.S. Department of State emphasised that its partnership with the South Sudanese people predates the country’s independence by decades, assuring that it values that history, but cannot leave the transitional government’s abuses unanswered.
“To do so would create the moral hazard of further encouraging the transitional government to persist in the approach that has exponentially worsened South Sudanese humanitarian need. President Trump has said that the United States will not be taken advantage of. For far too long the transitional government has done so, exploiting our taxpayer dollars, taking advantage of the United States, other donors, and its own people. This behavior must stop immediately.”
