Photo courtesy of Flickr
United States ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaking at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland.
BY CHLOE HARKINS ’18
While on her recent visit to South Sudan, United States ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley briefly visited with refugees in a United Nations camp. However, the majority of her visit was devoted to multiple meetings with President Salva Kiir, warning that the United States could pull aid from the country if they continued to fail to see improvement. This reflects the fundamental failure of current U.S. – South Sudan relations.
The problem with the United States approach to South Sudan is that it assumes that Kiir, who has been in power since 2011, wishes to ease the suffering of his people as much as the U.S. does. South Sudan’s ongoing civil war is one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with the Human Rights Watch World Report reporting at least 100,000 people killed, 1.5 million people fleeing the country and 2 million people internally displaced.
It is time for the Trump administration to accept that primarily negotiating with Kiir about South Sudan is no longer a viable strategy. These efforts to build sustainable peace, hold war criminals accountable and build a functioning state have made little progress. While interactions between the leaders of the two countries will always be necessary, alternative plans of action need to be explored.
If the United States truly wishes to help the people of South Sudan, the U.S. government must find a way to listen to the Sudanese government. The Trump administration has not filled the position of special envoy to Sudan and South Sudan, which has left the peace process sputtering and the crisis deepening. Since the departure of career civil servant Molly Phee in August, there has also been no U.S. ambassador in Juba, South Sudan’s capital, according to the U.S. Embassy. Without someone devoted full time to the crisis, the United States lacks not only a voice in South Sudan, but also the ability to fully understand what is happening in the region.
Additionally, the long overdue arms embargo in South Sudan must be achieved. According to the New York Times, several U.N. ambassadors have warned that the country may erupt in genocide without the embargo. Haley should again pressure the U.N. Security Council to agree to an arms embargo on the country, as her predecessor attempted before her. But she and the Trump administration should also apply pressure directly to the states currently responsible for the flow of arms to South Sudan, including Egypt, Uganda and Ukraine. The forces aiding South Sudan are just as necessary to address as the crisis itself.
It is clear that the United States alone will not be able to fix South Sudan. But it also clear that the Trump administration’s current efforts are not enough to fulfill Haley’s promise to ease the suffering of civilians in the country. If they truly wish to assist, then they must take action on their own, instead of waiting for the results of President Kiir’s promises.