by Julius Gale
JUBA, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- International medical charity, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) on Tuesday called on the armed actors in the South Sudan conflict to end attacks on civilians and looting of humanitarian facilities.
Joanne Liu, international president of MSF told reporters in Juba that the organization has witnessed increased destruction of property, looting of health facilities and violence against civilians in the last 18 months.
Liu, who visited several MSF-operated medical facilities in the East African nation, said she was appalled by the ongoing level of property destruction and suffering inflicted on the people of Wau Shilluk, an area north of the country.
The head of the medical charity said she witnessed complete destruction and looting of Wau Shiluk area, with a 30 beds-medical facility it operated razed to the ground.
She said the destruction reflects the hardship and disastrous lifestyle of the people who fled their homes with nothing.
"What is going on in South Sudan is not sparing the civilians and the civilian's structure. Over the last 18 months, 24 facilities of MSF were attacked. For me this is a reflection of the violence that is happening and what it does is the biggest consequences depriving people of access to health care when they need it the most," Liu said.
"People must be allowed to have access to health access and lifesaving services and assistance. Medical facilities must be protected. In the conflict all parties must refrain from looting and damaging medical facilities because that is the lifeline in conflict zones," she added.
According to the UN, South Sudan has become a hostile environment for aid workers. Since the outbreak of civil war in December 2013, at least 82 aid workers have been killed, including 15 this year alone.
It said most of the victims are South Sudanese nationals, with more missing or in detention, and aid workers have routinely been subject to harassment and intimidation.
Nearly 630 humanitarian access incidents have been reported since January including attacks on humanitarian compounds, looting aid supplies and convoys across the country.
In July alone, 15 incidents of looting were reported across the country.
Of particular concern were the six major incidents in which warehouses and trucks in transit were looted, leading to the loss of 670 tonnes of food aid in Eastern Equatoria, Lakes, Upper Nile and Warrap states.
Under international humanitarian law, intentional attacks against humanitarian relief personnel may constitute war crimes.
South Sudan has been embroiled in more than three years of conflict that has have taken a devastating toll on the people of South Sudan.
The peace pact signed in Addis Ababa in 2015 under intense international pressure was shattered again following renewed violence between rival government and opposition troops in the capital Juba in July 2016.
The conflict has since spread to other regions which enjoyed relative peace, causing mass displacement of least 3.5 million people from their homes, ethnic polarization and tribal violence that has killed tens of thousands of people.
