Statement from Franklin Graham on the Bombing Attack of a Refugee Camp in South Sudan

Camp is Located in South Sudan Where More Than 20,000 Refugees Were Seeking Safety and Shelter

"Six days ago I was in the Yida camp in South Sudan where Samaritan's Purse, the international Christian relief organization I lead, has the responsibility for feeding the 23,000 people who live there and who have fled the atrocities of the Islamic government in the North.

I applaud the White House for issuing a statement condemning the attacks, but we need to do more. I urge the United States and the international community to enforce a no-fly zone in the area to protect not only the innocent civilians there but also those who are trying to help them.

This attack was carried out across the border in the newly formed Republic of the South Sudan, which just gained its independence in July. The day of the bombing the United Nations was delivering its first helicopter relief flight with 12 tons of food, which Samaritan's Purse had been requesting. The bombing took place right after the U.N. delivered the food. Bombing U.N. food distribution points was a tactic that the government in the North had used in its civil war against the South. It would wait for the food to be delivered, for people to gather to collect the food, and then would bomb them. We can't allow this to happen again.

My prayer is that the world will not just sit by and watch and hope for the best like they did during Rwanda, where close to a million people were massacred. We need to make it clear to the government of Sudan that attacks on innocent people will not be tolerated."

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