The United States is imposing sanctions on 15 South Sudanese oil-related entities that have been sources of revenue for the South Sudanese government amid the country’s ongoing civil war.
The State Department announced Wednesday it would be placing the entities, which were not identified in the Trump administration’s announcement, on the Commerce Department’s Entity List. However, Reuters reported the South Sudan Ministry of Mining and the South Sudan Ministry of Petroleum were among those the U.S. is taking action against.
In placing the 15 South Sudanese operators on the Commerce Department’s Entity List, the U.S. government will “impose a license requirement on all exports, re-exports, and transfers of any U.S.-origin item to those entities.”
“The listed entities are a source of substantial revenue for the Government of South Sudan,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the South Sudanese Government, and corrupt official actors, use this revenue to purchase weapons and fund irregular militias that undermine the peace, security, and stability of South Sudan rather than support the welfare and current emergency food needs of the South Sudanese people.”
The Trump administration added to the Entity List government, state-tied and private South Sudanese entities that “are involved in activities that are contrary to the foreign policy interests of the United States,” Reuters reported.
The government has already imposed sanctions on the South Sudanese military and political officials, as well as an arms embargo, and Nauert warned Wednesday the U.S. is prepared to place addition sanctions on “those who threaten the peace and security of South Sudan.”
“The Government of South Sudan can do better,” she said. “The United States expects it, as well as the armed opposition, to fulfill their commitments to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and to their own people to cease hostilities, allow unimpeded humanitarian access, and pursue a negotiated peace in good faith.”
Since 2013, South Sudan has been embroiled in a civil war that has driven millions from the country.
