JUBA, South Sudan — The United Nations has urged South Sudan to remove recently imposed taxes and charges that led to the suspension of UN food airdrops for thousands of people who depend on foreign aid.
The UN Humanitarian Affairs Agency said in a statement on Monday that the pause in airdrops in March had deprived 60,000 people living in areas inaccessible by road of food, and their number is expected to rise to 135,000 by the end of May.
The UN said the new charges would have increased operating costs to $339,000 a month, which it says is enough to feed more than 16,300 people. The new charges introduced in February relate to electronic cargo tracking, security escort fees and new fuel taxes.
“Our limited funds are spent on saving lives and not on bureaucratic impediments,” said Anita Kiki Gbeho, UN humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan.
U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in New York that the taxes and charges are also affecting the nearly 20,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, “which is reviewing all of its activities, including patrols, the construction of police stations, schools and medical care. centers, as well as educational support.”
The UN says South Sudan’s government had said it would remove the new fees and taxes, but had not committed to doing so in writing since February.
An estimated 9 million people of South Sudan’s 12.5 million people need protection and humanitarian assistance, according to the UN. The country has also seen an increase in the number of people fleeing the war in neighboring Sudan, further complicating humanitarian assistance to those affected by the internal conflict.
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