JUBA - The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) on Thursday marked the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers with pleas for lasting peace in the country.

Phan was taken to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma and then to a Texas immigration lockup. There, his family prepared for his expected deportation to Vietnam with a suitcase of clothing and a cell phone for him once he was deported. “We'd accepted it," Ngoc Phan said. "We planned for it."

Oil’s importance to South Sudan’s economy is often exaggerated – the bigger challenge facing Juba is its inability to secure new loans.

The Trump administration is challenging a court ruling on a deportation flight, citing threats to U.S. foreign policy and Article II authority.

Guang Cong, the acting head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), warned of a “deteriorating security situation” marked by military clashes and intercommunal violence, while millions face severe hunger amid funding shortfalls.

South Sudan has long suffered periodic cholera outbreaks, but this one is unique in speed, scale, and scope as conflict-created displacement, flooding, and lack of access to clean water are fuelling the outbreak, according to interviews with experts and officials.