South Sudan was the focus of debate in the UN Human Rights Council on Friday as escalating violence and political tensions alongside a massive humanitarian emergency and war in neighbouring Sudan threaten efforts to achieve lasting peace.
Funding shortfalls are putting the lives of more than 1.9 million displaced people in South Sudan at risk amid rising humanitarian needs, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday.
Renewed fighting in South Sudans Jonglei state has displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians in recent weeks, damaged health facilities, fuelled the spread of cholera and prompting the UN relief chief to warn of a perfect storm of conflict, climate shocks and deprivation.
In remarks to the Geneva-basedinternational body,High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Trk called for urgent action to preserve the 2018 peace agreement between the Government and oppositionto preventfragmentation andretaliatory cyclesthat couldspark a returnto all-out civil war.
He described thehuman rights situationasamong the worlds forgotten crises.
We are at a dangerous point, when rising violence is combined with deepening uncertainty over South Sudans political trajectory, as the peace agreement comes under severe strain,hewarned.
Civilians under attack
Since December,both Government and opposition forces and their allied militias have launched attacks on residential areas inseven states, including Jonglei, where more than280,000 peoplehave fled their homes.
The High Commissioners office,OHCHR, documented that 189 civilians were killed in January, and many more injured, as rights violations and abuses surged by 45 per cent over the previous month.
Civilians are bearing the brunt ofa spike in indiscriminate attacks, including aerial bombardments, deliberate killings, abductions and conflict-related sexual violence, hesaid.
Military discipline lacking
Mr. Trk noted thaton both sides,military discipline appears to have collapsedin Jonglei and Eastern Equatoriastatewhere troops have demonstrated a near total disregard for civilian protection.
He said the recent escalation comes against a backdrop of rising tensions and civilian deaths throughoutthe past year.More than 5,100 peoplewerekilled or injuredin 2025, according to OHCHR a 40 per cent increase over 2024.The death toll included twoUN staff members.
OHCHR alsomonitoredmore than 250 individual cases of conflict-related sexual violence, though thetruenumber of women and girls affectedislikely muchhigher.
Opposition forces and their alliesalsoabducted 550 civilians,representinga disturbing increase.
Hate speech, humanitarian crisis
Therising tensions are characterized by hate speech and incitement to violence targeting entire communities and ethnic groups, the rights chief said.
He highlighted an audio recording, authenticated by the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), in whicha senior military official urged his forces to spare no lives, and to destroy civilian homes, livestock, and property.
Mr. Trkalso addressed the dire humanitarian situation,withmillionsrequiringassistance, andthe war across the borderwhich has brought an influx of refugees and returnees, as bothareintrinsically linked to rising insecurity and wider human rights violationsand abuses.
Code red for human rights
In concluding his remarks,Mr. Trkstated that human rights monitoring provides a warning systemand itis flashing red for South Sudan.
He called for an immediate end to the hostilitiesandurged the warring partiestorecommittoinclusive dialogue.
Over1.3 millionfleeing Sudan face uncertainty
Well over 1.3 millionmainly SouthSudanese people have returned to the country after fleeing Sudans ongoing war, the UN migration agency,IOM, reported on Friday.
In an update from Juba, the agencys Deputy Director for Operations, Ugochi Daniels, stressed that South Sudan is one of the most displacement-affected countries in the world, although the situation rarely features in the worlds media.
Nearly10 million peoplerequire humanitarianassistanceand more than2.3 million peopleare displaced within the country, she told journalists in Geneva via video. Over the past two months alone, over250,000 peoplehave been displaced and yet this has hardly been registered on the international scene.
Aid workers killed
The development follows an alert on Monday for the people of South Sudan issued by the UNs top aid official, Tom Fletcher. Ahead of that warning, three aid workers were killed earlier this month in Jonglei and Upper Nile states.
Fighting has been reported in both of those northeastern states between government forces and those loyal to Vice-President Riek Machar, who is on trial for treason andremainsunder house arrest.
The violent insecurity has severely hampered humanitarian access, with UN aid operations suspended in parts of Upper Nile and northern Jonglei states. In somecase, river corridors are being used to deliver food and nutrition relief where needs are greatest.
Access appeal
We have received assurances of improvements in access, but the reality is that it's fragile, IOMs Ms. Daniels said. There may be access today, not access tomorrow. Thereshuge impacton our operations.
She noted that in Bentiu, the country's largest displacement site, more than109,000 peoplelive surrounded by floodwaters and are increasingly exposed to the impacts of climate change.
To counter this, IOM has supported flood mitigation efforts with the South Sudanese Government and the World Bank which have led to successful land reclamation.
