The number of aid workers kidnapped in South Sudan has more than doubled this year, humanitarian officials said, as renewed fighting and fragmentation among armed groups have increased dangers for personnel and disrupted life-saving services.
More than 30 South Sudanese aid workers were abducted in 2025, the officials said, a figure that is higher than the total for all of 2024. Several hostages were released after ransom payments, three people with knowledge of negotiations said, while at least one aid worker died in captivity earlier this month.
The dead aid worker, identified by people familiar with the case as James Unguba, a South Sudanese staffer for a local organization, was kidnapped in the county of Tambura in Western Equatoria and died in captivity on Sept. 3, according to three people who spoke on condition of anonymity. They said Unguba had been taken by men wearing national military uniforms; a spokesman for South Sudan’s army said he had no information and declined to answer questions.
Humanitarian groups said the wave of abductions — including an attack on marked medical convoys in Central Equatoria — has forced some organizations to suspend operations in hard-to-reach counties, cutting services to hundreds of thousands of people along South Sudan’s southern borders with Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic. Doctors Without Borders suspended work in two counties in July after staff were taken at gunpoint in a clearly marked convoy in Yei and after another health worker was seized while traveling in an MSF ambulance.
“The biggest fear is that this could become a countrywide issue,” said Daniel Akech, a South Sudan analyst with the International Crisis Group. Ferenc Marko, a regional expert, said abductions for political reasons such as forced recruitment have occurred for years, but that the recent rise in kidnappings for ransom is a new and worrying dynamic that could make humanitarian work impossible in parts of Central and Western Equatoria.
Aid officials who discussed the situation with The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss security matters, said families and local intermediaries have sometimes negotiated payments despite the widespread non-payment policies of the U.N. and many aid groups. Three people with knowledge of such talks said neutral actors, including churches, have been used as intermediaries in some cases.
It remains unclear which actors are responsible for the recent abductions. Civil society leader Edmund Yakani and others said there is no single group behind the attacks. The security landscape has become more crowded with armed groups seeking quick profit as the economy falters and political tensions rise. In March, Riek Machar, leader of the main opposition and a vice president in the unity government, was placed under house arrest after a local militia with loose ties to him overran an army base near the Ethiopian border. The national army has since intensified operations against his forces, which have linked up with other rebel factions including the National Salvation Front, a holdout group that never signed the 2018 peace deal.
The U.N. has long designated South Sudan as among the most dangerous countries for aid workers, and independent research shows global violence against humanitarian personnel surged in recent years. Humanitarian Outcomes reported in August that 2024 was the deadliest year on record for aid workers and warned that 2025 was on track to surpass it.
Aid officials and analysts warned that the uptick in kidnappings, alongside donor uncertainty and shrinking funding, is straining response capacity in one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises. Earlier this year, critics noted moves by the U.S. administration to reconfigure foreign assistance structures that had funded large portions of emergency relief to South Sudan, and European donors have signaled potential reductions in contributions. Aid agencies say continued insecurity and declining funding together threaten the delivery of food, health and protection services to vulnerable communities across the country.