South Sudan: Government blocks humanitarian access in opposition-held areas
Access restrictions are limiting MSF’s ability to deliver essential medical assistance, with potentially dangerous consequences for children, pregnant women and people with chronic conditions.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) denounces the restrictions on humanitarian access the government of South Sudan has imposed exclusively in parts of the opposition-held areas of Jonglei state.
These restrictions limit MSF’s ability to deliver essential medical assistance for communities, which can have particularly dangerous consequences for children, pregnant women and people living with chronic or life-threatening conditions.
Critically ill patients are at risk of death
These restrictions have been in place since December 2025 and include Lankien, Pieri and Akobo. This means all humanitarian flights are suspended, making it difficult or impossible to distribute medical and other critical supplies and personnel where needed. As of Jan. 29, at least 23 critically ill patients from Lankien and Pieri are in urgent need of referrals and their lives are at immediate risk.
“Patients will die if the government continues to block humanitarian and medical access in Jonglei,” says Abdalla Hussein, MSF program manager for South Sudan. “Imposing restrictions on humanitarian aid and preventing people from accessing healthcare is a crude political manoeuvre. Ultimately, it is the civilians who pay the price. This must stop immediately.”
“It is unacceptable to hear statements from authority figures openly suggesting that mass violence against civilians and their forced displacement should be employed,” says Hussein. “We call upon the government to act and urgently reassure the protection of civilians.”
MSF has been forced to evacuate some staff and reduce services
Following the restrictions, MSF has been forced to evacuate staff from Lankien and Akobo and limit medical services in these facilities and those in Pieri to emergency and lifesaving care only. On Jan. 29, MSF’s team in Pieri was also forced to leave the facility, due to the imminent danger of armed conflict. We had to discharge most of our patients, grab emergency kits and flee the town along with the local community.
MSF is the only health provider serving about 250,000 people in Lankien and Pieri and another 112,000 in Akobo. This means almost 400,000 people will be left without any healthcare if the government refuses to grant MSF access and we are forced to leave the area.
“MSF reminds all armed groups and political actors that they share the responsibility to protect civilians, humanitarian and medical personnel, and healthcare facilities. Attacks, threats and interference with medical activities put lives at risk and must stop.”
Gul Badshah, MSF operations manager in South Sudan
“Ongoing conflict and displacement in Jonglei are further increasing the vulnerable situation civilians face, creating new and urgent humanitarian needs on top of already limited healthcare services,” says Gul Badshah, MSF operations manager in South Sudan. “MSF reminds all armed groups and political actors that they share the responsibility to protect civilians, humanitarian and medical personnel, and healthcare facilities. Attacks, threats and interference with medical activities put lives at risk and must stop.”
The worsening humanitarian crisis in South Sudan needs urgent international prioritization. Communities face overlapping crises and the current response is not meeting the rising needs across the country. If MSF is unable to resupply our medical facilities during the dry season – while roads are still accessible – the consequences will be even more dramatic and the humanitarian crisis to follow will be catastrophic.
MSF in South Sudan
MSF has been present in what is today South Sudan since 1983 and remains one of the largest medical humanitarian agencies in the country. We operate in seven states and two administrative areas. In 2025, MSF provided more than 830,000 outpatient consultations, inpatient care for over 93,000 patients, including 12,000 surgeries, screened 107,000 children for malnutrition and performed critical referrals across the country. Sustained and predictable humanitarian access is essential to maintain lifesaving services and to prevent further deterioration of health outcomes for communities in Jonglei state.
