The United States has ordered the immediate departure of non-urgent staff of the South Sudan capital, citing an increase in crime, kidnapping and armed conflicts, the Ministry of State announced on Sunday.
The level of advice on a trip to South Sudan Remains at Level 4, This means that Americans should not go to the African country.
“Violent crimes, such as carjacks, shots, ambushes, attacks, thefts and kidnappings are common throughout South Sudan, including Juba,” said the opinion. “Foreign nationals were victims of rape, sexual assault, armed robbery and other violent crimes.”
He also said that the US government had a “limited capacity to provide urgent consular services to American citizens in South Sudan”.
Violence in South Sudan has increased, threatening a fragile peace agreement between the two main leaders in the country.
President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar signed a peace agreement in 2018 to end a five-year civil war during which more than 400,000 people were killed. Machar is the country’s first vice-president in a government of national unity, even if his political group opposes Kiir.
The political rivalry between the two men is largely considered a major obstacle to peace in South Sudan, with a suspicious Kiir towards the ambitions of his assistant and Machar calling Kiir a dictator.
The State Department issues travel opinions for all countries. Level 4 is the highest emitted by the State Department and it is only issued when there is a greater risk of deadly danger. At this level, the American government advises Americans to write a will and leave DNA samples with their medical supplier in the event of identification.
For South Sudan, the department urged the Americans who decide to go to the African nation to “show extreme care” in all regions of the country, including the capital Juba.
More than a dozen countries, including Ukraine, Russia, Syria, Iraq, Venezuela and Haiti, were designated at level 4 by the State Department.
