The British government has advised its citizens to leave South Sudan as escalating tensions push the country closer to renewed civil war.
“If you are in South Sudan and judge it safe to do so, you should leave now,” the UK Foreign Office said in updated travel guidance on Thursday, reiterating its long-standing advice against all travel to the country due to the risk of armed conflict.
Western nations, including the U.S., Britain, and Germany, have either closed or scaled back their embassy operations in response to the worsening situation, which stems from intensifying friction between President Salva Kiir and First Vice-President Riek Machar.
Machar’s party warned earlier on Thursday that his house arrest had effectively nullified the peace agreement that ended South Sudan’s 2013-2018 civil war, a conflict that killed hundreds of thousands.
“South Sudan’s leaders must make efforts to de-escalate,” UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy posted on X, joining international calls for restraint.
“A descent into violence and conflict is in no one’s interests.”
