The lives of more than 1.9 million displaced people in South Sudan are being put at risk due to aid funding shortages, the UN’s migration agency said yesterday.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said humanitarian needs were dramatically outstripping resources in one of the world’s most displacement-affected countries.

“Critical funding shortfalls are putting the lives of over 1.9 million displaced people in South Sudan at risk,” the agency said in a statement.

South Sudan, the world’s newest sovereign country, has been beset by civil war, poverty and massive corruption since it was formed in 2011.

South Sudan is grappling with new arrivals fleeing the conflict in neighbouring Sudan, while dealing with its own displacement caused by years of conflict, flooding and instability, the IOM said.

The agency said that since the war in Sudan erupted in April 2023, more than 1.3 million people had crossed into South Sudan -- two-thirds of them being South Sudanese returnees.

The IOM said this had put “immense pressure” on border communities, and the country’s overstretched services and fragile infrastructure.