The White House, Washington DC | Credit | TripSavvy

The White House has extended the national emergency on South Sudan in order to deal with what it describes as an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.

President Joe Biden says the current situation in the country is marked by activities that threaten the peace, security, or stability of South Sudan and the surrounding region.

He affirmed that this situation includes widespread violence and atrocities, human rights abuses, recruitment and use of child soldiers, attacks on peacekeepers, and obstruction of humanitarian operations.

“The situation in and in relation to South Sudan continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” partly reads a statement.

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act authorizes President Biden to regulate international commerce in response to any unusual and extraordinary threat to the United States which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States.

It was first declared by former President Barrack Obama in 2014, a few months after war erupted in Juba in December 2013.

The order meant that the transfer of assets, in the form of property or interests would be blocked for some individuals whose actions are considered to threaten peace in South Sudan.

It also affects those who threaten transitional agreements, expand the conflict, and commit human rights violations, and target women and children.

The order was extended several times during the war that ended in 2018.

In April 2020, former U.S President Donald Trump said the national emergency on South Sudan would continue for the next year.

This, he said, is because the situation still threatens the peace, security, or stability of South Sudan and its region.

Trump also cited the recruitment and use of child soldiers, attack on peacekeepers and aid workers, and those who help donate to such activities.

On Monday, President Biden declared that the national emergency declared on April 3, 2014, must continue in effect for 1 year.

He directed that the notice be published in the U.S Federal Register and transmitted to Congress.