South Sudan Is Collapsing Thanks to Corruption Over Oil

[Music] [Music] how many patients on average do you have here coming in the whole hospital is 514 beds mica Isaac is the director of the Maine hospital for South Sudan's 12 million people smile nutrition beside the relatives of the patients so there's no food at all there's no food there must be difficult when a lot of people are here for malnutrition reasons or for dehydration is yes so we hope and wish to give them food our honored guests able because of financial problems that facing the country seems like getting treatment is quite difficult without food medicine or electricity South Sudan's largest hospital is clearly failing its patients why the government has no money while South Sudan struggles to provide the most basic services it's sitting on some of the largest oil reserves on the continent madding nor is a journalist whose family members fought and died in the war for independence the economy is struggling because the oil prices are declining and South Sudan is a country that is almost entirely dependent on oil it has tremendous effect in this oil-producing country it's actually almost impossible to buy gas as a big field shortage it is huge is immense seen all these people carrying out to try and fill up their tanks is that high everyone gets their fuel is crazy let me tell you all record I waited for ten hours I didn't get it so what I've been getting a few there is the black market so these guys froze on cars [Music] I live told to me recently a single bottle of fuel costs more than the monthly salary of the most people in South Sudan despite at least three and a half billion barrels and oil reserves the economy is now completely crippled a far cry from what was expected when a country gained its independence were you here on Independence Day absolutely I was here and this place was filled up with people [Applause] [Music] well this was the only time in our history where we came together despite our differences whether they were tribal whether they were political whether they were phenomenal all kinds of people were here just like a wedding night when the honeymoon fits the real problems they kick in and it was just a matter of three years and the country are updated for December 15 2013 there was a brewing power struggle between sulfur clear my added the president of South Sudan and we act mychart the former first vice president President Salva Kiir is being corrupted by power and of course at the center of power is oil it's money it became a conflict along tribal line the Dinka where the president comes from and the north where the former first vice president comes from and that engulf the whole country with the country's two largest tribes divided by their loyalty to the president and the vice president the world's newest country split along ethnic lines this is not the country we fought for we were fighting for the future where there is peace there is a stability there is prosperity so indeed people are upset about where we have found ourselves in the country in 2016 a team of investigators backed by George Clooney who's been an activist in this region for over a decade published a two-year long investigation into South Sudan's leaders this morning were prepared to give evidence of massive criminal behavior by the president of South Sudan and by the his opposition the ousted vice-president they concluded that at the root of the power struggle is a fierce battle over control of the state's assets they're stealing the money to fund their militias to attack and kill one another South Sudan's leaders and their relatives were getting rich of lucrative deals in the oil and mining industries while the country was driven into war and famine 14-year old ball is among the nearly two million people who were forced from their homes and now scattered across South Sudan how did you get here you'll go away tomorrow where you will mark only in the name a very medical one clue is that I know you've been telling me do you think about your family a lot to find out how the ongoing war is affecting civilians outside of Juba we flew north crossing ethnic lines to the tribal home of the opposition more than 120,000 ethnic mowers are now living inside this one barbed-wire camp UN peacekeepers protect them from their own government both of them are children like Isaac who fled ethnic slaughter by government soldiers you tell them to like a mountain I'm nothing yeah a mortal did you lose anyone you know one time may you walk yeah yeah it's good enough for my own good robot you talk to anyone about me Phil I mean I can tell you're obsessing you're thinking about your brother [Music] you just climbed up to the edge of the POC Zion from up here you can see how absolutely humongous the site is in fact it's the third largest city in South Sudan and this fence here is the only thing separating these people from the attacks and killings atrocities happening right out there even inside the camps food is scarce civilians mostly women are forced to leave the camp every day to collect firewood which they can then sell to purchase food so takes four or five hours to reach the place where you're going then and you know what are the biggest threats when you go out to collect water didn't I love all my kill a man Adrian of corn cob a senior boy I think I'd agree somewhat based on a photograph taken at all hey let me be tall God we could buy a lovely benefit who is it that's beating and raping multi every little cabinet both the UN and the African Union have documented cases of mass rape of civilians and even children by government soldiers [Music] the territory around the camp has changed hands several times during the conflict right now it's government soldiers that are controlling this town there are so many soldiers loitering around this one tiny village and several extremely young looking kids with guns according to the UN there are more than 17,000 child soldiers involved in the conflict and that number is growing but one of the world's largest peacekeeping missions protecting hundreds of thousands from their own government we sat down with the country's Minister of Information Michael Lewis belongs to the small circle of presidential elites the US recently attempted to slap sanctions on him for orchestrating the slaughter of civilians can you explain what the current state of South Sudan is in your eyes well the current state of South Sudan in terms of you Human Rights is okay you say it's okay I mean there's almost three million people displaced throughout South Sudan and about 200,000 of those living with in IDP camps within their own country whoever they displaced because of human rights violations yes no there are widespread reports throughout the country and outside of the country of killings of brutal mass rapes these are reports from independent people from individuals from humanitarian courts from the UN yes are not credible reports these are reports which are written here in the hotels I mean it sounds like you're saying that responsibility for any of the atrocities that have happened throughout our country and if you don't expect accept any of that responsibility it's incredibly difficult to see how peace could ever be reached if there's no accountability at all I'm not saying that there had never been any offences committed yes they are offenses committed people like under arrest people are under arrest and they are under investigation others have already undergone trial do you refute the fact that South Sudan is one of the most corrupt countries in the world well corruption is all over the world South Sudan is part of the world so it cannot be free of corruption I'm asking you on a scale where the South Sudan is up there as one of the most corrupt countries in the world South Sudan is one of the corrupt countries in the world not the most are you corrupt me well the government denies the allegations of corruption the fact remains that the same men who tore this country apart remain very much in power while civilians continue to pay the price and it's the international community that's left with the costly task of trying to hold the world's youngest country together [Music] well his 14 years old hasn't seen his family here invented since he was 11 does it feel good to be back in your town what are you most excited about dang I don't wanna get my warning up with [Music] [Music] [Music] here all these people outside like any ideological boon I'm gonna say I'm gonna go boom see ya how long have you been waiting for this day nope no one McConnell your you go a long way [Music] [Music] you

Channel: VICE News

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Keywords: VICE News, VICE News Tonight, VICE on HBO, news, vice video, vice news 2019, south sudan, isobel yeung, isobel yeung vice, crude reality, healthcare south sudan, south sudan hospital, malnutrition kids, health south sudan, drought, oil reserves south sudan, war for independance south sudan, international news, oil black market, south sudan economy, vice on HBO youtube, ethnic nuer, south sudan civil war, vice south sudan

Id: qi37th_N3Ck

Length: 14min 16sec (856 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 01 2020