Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House Africa Subcommittee, today left on a fact-finding human rights mission to South Sudan where U.S. and international humanitarian aid workers remain at grave risk as they struggle to assist the over five million people, especially and including children, who are victims of horrific violence, malnutrition and disease in the conflict ridden region. During his trip, Chairman Smith is scheduled to meet with South Sudanese president Salva Kiir, U.N. peacekeepers, U.S. officials as well as faith-based and non-governmental organizations (NGO).

     “We have an obligation to do whatever we can to stabilize the peace,” said Smith, who has championed humanitarian relief in the U.S. Congress. “I am hopeful that President Kiir will take decisive action to protect volunteers and humanitarian aid workers from around the world who are there to help the suffering people.”

     War-torn South Sudan—which became independent from Sudan in 2011—has been in the throes of a civil war since 2013, leading to over 1.6 million people displaced since the beginning of the war and an estimated 16,000 children recruited to fight. A peace accord remains fragile with a noticeable increase in violence in July of this year, prompting an increase of 4,000 U.N. peacekeepers by the Security Council.

     “Up to 4.8 million people in South Sudan – well over one-third of the population – will be facing severe food shortages over the coming months and the risk of a hunger catastrophe continues to threaten parts of the country,” stated the U.N. in a recent report. “The figure does not include some 350,000 displaced people seeking refuge at U.N. Protection of Civilians areas or other camps, who are entirely dependent on humanitarian assistance.”

     Just last week international news organizations reported three days of intense fighting in the capital city of Juba, where South Sudanese troops stormed a hotel that was known to house international aid workers. Reports indicated these soldiers focused on Americans, carried out both real and mock executions and raped several women. The U.N. peacekeepers, stationed less than a mile away, did not send aid despite urgent calls for help.

     Since 2013 South Sudan alone has accounted for approximately 14 percent of all attacks on aid workers. The country was recently ranked as the least secure country for humanitarian aid workers by Humanitarian Outcomes, an NGO that gathers data on the risks taken by foreign aid workers, overtaking all others including Afghanistan and Somalia.

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