Representatives of youth in the UNMISS protection of civilians’ camp in Bentiu on Monday demanded that humanitarian agencies provide them with jobs.

In a meeting with community leaders and nine humanitarian agencies, the representatives said that aid groups were not hiring enough camp residents. They threatened to "take action” if their demands for employment were not met by Thursday, but did not elaborate on the threat.

The youth representatives said humanitarian actors give preference to staff from Juba, and demanded that jobs not be given to citizens of certain foreign countries and members of other ethnic groups.

Representatives of the humanitarian agencies said their foreign or non-local staff were already working for them before the conflict began, and that they employ many youth in the camp.

One humanitarian group said it employs 26 people living in Bentiu camp and only two people from other parts of South Sudan.

The humanitarian groups said they are limited by funding in how many jobs they can provide and that their first priority is saving lives, not creating employment.

They said threatening humanitarian agencies could create serious problems and that South Sudanese law prevents them from discriminating or favoring members of certain tribes or regions.

One humanitarian agency in Bentiu recently declined to renew a contract with the chairman of Bentiu's IDP community committee.

Photo: Acting members of the community committee at a meeting discussing employment in Bentiu's UNMISS camp