International medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has suspended all its outreach activities in Yei River County of Central Equatoria State, following an attack on its staff.
MSF Head of Mission in South Sudan, Iqbal Huda (Tidal), said that armed men on Sept.20 forcibly took an MSF staff and one staff of a partner organization, to the bush, while letting the two remaining MSF staff and the drivers to proceed with their vehicles.
“MSF strongly condemns this attack against health workers in an area, where people already face difficulty accessing healthcare. We are deeply shocked by this unacceptable attack on the provision of neutral and impartial humanitarian assistance for communities in need,” Huda said in a statement issued on Tuesday in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
It noted that two marked MSF vehicles were attacked at 3 P.M, while coming back to the town of Yei from an outreach activity, adding the unknown armed men forced MSF staff to disembark from their vehicles at gunpoint while looting MSF and personal belongings.
Huda revealed that the two abducted staff were released 24 hours later from captivity.
The latest incident has forced MSF to suspend outreach movements and activities to communities surrounding Yei and Morobo until concrete guarantees are made to allow medical, and humanitarian services and lifesaving work to continue unhindered in the area.
MSF said that attacks against humanitarians and healthcare workers are unacceptable because they directly affect the provision of healthcare for communities who desperately need it.
It called upon all armed groups to uphold their responsibilities under international humanitarian law and respect the provision of humanitarian assistance.
“Until the safety of MSF operations and staff is assured, MSF cannot guarantee resumption of activities in the area. The real victims of these incidents are the most vulnerable people living in underserved areas where MSF is the only provider of healthcare services in this area outside of Yei town,” Huda said.
This is the third attack on humanitarian organizations around Yei in three months pointing to a systematic attack on the provision of humanitarian aid.
