U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley was evacuated from a camp in South Sudan on Wednesday as residents of the U.N. camp protested Salva Kiir, president of South Sudan, according to a report.
The United Nations told the Associated Press residents of the camp “became upset that she was not able to meet with them, due to time constraints.” After Haley was evacuated from the camp, security guards with the United Nations deployed tear gas to break up a crowd of at least 100 camp residents.
One resident of the camp told the Associated Press those living there wanted to give Haley a letter that discussed the “current crisis.” The United Nations said a “petition” was delivered before Haley left.
Haley is currently on a trip visiting three countries in Africa, and she met with Kiir to discuss South Sudan’s nearly four-year-long civil war, which began in December 2013.
Since then, more than 50,000 have been killed and at least 2 million have fled the country.
Haley told a U.N. radio station she told Kiir during their meeting the U.S. doesn’t trust the South Sudan government. In a statement released by the United Nations, the U.S. ambassador described her discussion with Kiir as “very frank.”
“I didn’t come here to talk. I came here to say the time for action is now,” she said. “We are not waiting anymore. We need to see change, and we need to see it right away. We have lost trust in this government, and we now need to regain that trust.
“The only way to regain that trust is through the actions of taking care of all of the people. President Kiir is the president of everyone, not just one tribe, not just one group. In order to be a leader, you have to be willing to take care of all of your people.”
The U.S. has invested more than $11 billion in aid to South Sudan, and Haley said isn’t happy.
“We are disappointed by what we are seeing. This is not what we thought we were investing in,” Haley said. “What we thought we were investing in was a free, fair society where people could be safe, and South Sudan is the opposite of that.”
In addition to visiting South Sudan, Haley also visited Ethiopia, and she will be in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Thursday.
