JUBA, June 8 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan on Friday said humanitarian workers are no longer being subjected to several restrictions in government held areas compared to rebel held territories amid recent warning by relief agencies of worsening food insecurity ahead of the lean season.
President Salva Kiir's spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny said the government has granted increased access to relief agencies in most of its controlled territories but that rebels are to blame for restrictions and abductions of aid workers in the territories they control.
"The President already issued an order to government officials ensuring unlimited access to humanitarians. There are now few roadblocks in government territories but instead the rebels are to blame for obstructing humanitarian workers," Ateny said in Juba.
This came after humanitarian chiefs on Wednesday called on the warring parties to cease hostilities and provide improved relief access before the lean season in June, July and August to avert looming hunger.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and UN World Food Program said the humanitarian situation in the country continues to deteriorate and an unprecedented seven million people wait upon humanitarian assistance in 2018.
"The rebels should give humanitarian access in their areas instead of humanitarian workers talking about the government not granting relief access," Ateny said.
South Sudan descended into civil war in late 2013, and the conflict has created one of the fastest growing refugee crises in the world.
The UN estimates that about 4 million South Sudanese have been displaced internally and externally.
