Britain’s former foreign secretary David Miliband, now serving as president of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), says that South Sudan is at a ‘tipping point’ in terms of famine risk, and he is also calling for justice for the two IRC aid workers who were among dozens of civilians massacred in Bor a week and a half ago.

He has also welcomed the US plan to sanction South Sudanese government and rebel leaders and he is calling for the United Nations to establish an independent, permanent human rights office in the country.

“South Sudan is at tipping point. Without immediate, high level engagement to stop the violence, the people of South Sudan will face more killings and be plunged further into a food crisis,” said David Miliband, as quoted in a press release yesterday by the International Rescue Committee

Miliband referred to the killings of two IRC staff in the government-controlled town of Bor, where 58 people including the two IRC health workers were massacred on 17 April.  

“Having lost two of our own staff in the recent wave of killings, we know that people fear they are running out of options on where to flee,” said Miliband, alluding to the fact that the killings took place at a peacekeeping base where the civilians were under UN protection.

Miliband says, “There must be increased political pressure on the government and opposition and much greater support for the UN presence – both actions are critical to curb the crisis. It is easy to dismiss this as an ethnic conflict but the root of the crisis is political, exacerbated by easy access to weaponry. The interruption of planting and the consequent fear of famine top off the dangerous brew.”

Also the press release stated: “The IRC welcomes the decision by the US government to allow targeted sanctions and is calling for the resumption of negotiations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, led by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).”

The IRC also recommended that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) establish a “permanent, independent presence in South Sudan” to monitor violations of human rights.

“The atrocities perpetrated by all parties are proof enough that more accountability is crucial,” says Miliband.

The IRC pointed out that UNMISS was authorized by the Security Council in December to deploy an additional 5,500 troops, but only 1,400 have arrived so far.

Miliband further stressed the need for more humanitarian funding owing to the scale of the crisis. Of the $1.23 billion requested by aid agencies, $780 million remains unfunded.

“Organizations like ours remain committed to helping all people of South Sudan who are in need but we are reaching the end of our emergency funding and we can’t do it alone,” says Miliband.

“The UN warns of the possibility of famine in the coming months,” says Miliband. “We can save more lives with adequate resources. Without critical support, the humanitarian community will be overwhelmed and many people will die.” 

The IRC in South Sudan is working in the fields of psychosocial care for survivors of gender-based violence, health care, and water and sanitation services. The organization is running a health clinic at the site in Bor where the massacre took place on 17 April.

File photo: David Miliband (left) during a visit to the NATO alliance headquarters in 2010, with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen (NATO)