NAIROBI, June 20, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The United Nations migration agency warned 
Friday that critical funding shortfalls have forced it to "temporarily 
suspend" a vital transport link in South Sudan, stranding people fleeing the 
war in neighbouring Sudan.

South Sudan has been plagued by conflict and poverty since its independence 
in 2011, heightened in recent months by the roiling war in Sudan on its 
porous northern border.

In Sudan, the conflict between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid 
Support Forces that began in April 2023 has recently intensified in the west 
and south.

On Friday, the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned that 
funding cuts meant its transport operations for people fleeing south into 
South Sudan were "drastically reduced and temporarily suspended on 1 June 
2025".

It said in a statement that it had established an emergency service 
consisting of one bus and one truck between the Joda border -- the main 
crossing between the two countries -- and the town of Renk.

However, the IOM told AFP it could only run the service until the end of 
June, appealing for $6.5 million to plug the funding shortfall.

"The people arriving in South Sudan have already endured unimaginable trauma 
-- conflict, displacement and profound loss," said IOM Director General Amy 
Pope.

She said it was "unconscionable" that many had now been "left stranded at the 
border without the means to reach safety or rebuild their lives". 

"We cannot allow financial constraints to determine whether people live with 
dignity or languish in desperation," she said.
The IOM said the suspension would also strain the host communities, 
increasing the risk of disease outbreaks and exacerbating tensions over 
already scarce resources including water, medical care, land, and 
livelihoods.
It comes only days after the IOM said that more than 16,000 people had been 
displaced in a week by violence in Sudan.
The uptick in fighting -- both in Sudan and South Sudan -- comes after US 
President Donald Trump's decision to heavily slash foreign aid, causing havoc 
in the humanitarian sector.