NAIROBI: The international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) denounced on Friday the restrictions placed on humanitarian access within South Sudan.
The condemnation follows an escalation in clashes over the last month between opposing factions in the country.
Hostilities, primarily between forces aligned with President Salva Kiir and those loyal to his longstanding political opponent, Riek Machar, erupted in Jonglei state in December 2025.
The United Nations reports that the conflict has already forced at least 180,000 people from their homes.
MSF, which serves as the only medical provider for an estimated 400,000 people in the region, stated that authorities have prohibited all humanitarian flights to the Lankien, Pieri, and Akobo areas.
🚨 In Jonglei state, South Sudan, the government is restricting humanitarian access in opposition-held areas, putting lives at risk and potentially jeopardising access to healthcare for almost 400,000 people.https://t.co/dUKbWXf8Il
— MSF International (@MSF) January 30, 2026
This blockade has critically halted the supply of essential medicines and medical staff to the affected zones and has made it impossible to evacuate patients in life-threatening condition for urgent care.
“Patients will die if the government continues to block humanitarian and medical access in Jonglei,” said Abdalla Hussein, MSF desk manager for South Sudan in the statement.
“Imposing restrictions on humanitarian aid and preventing people from accessing health care is a crude political maneuver… This must stop immediately.”
On Thursday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “deeply concerned” about the violence in Jonglei, noting that it had resulted in numerous deaths and injuries and the reported displacement of around 180,000 civilians.
The government said this week that it was “not at war,” describing the security operation in Jonglei as a “necessary measure” to stop the advancement of rebel forces.
South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, has been plagued by civil war, widespread poverty, and entrenched corruption since gaining independence in 2011.
Supporters of President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar fought a brutal civil war between 2013 and 2018 that left an estimated 400,000 people dead.
The two later formed a power-sharing government under a UN-backed peace agreement, but the arrangement has steadily unraveled over the past year, with Machar jailed and placed on trial on charges of “crimes against humanity.”
