Hundreds of British soldiers to tackle South Sudan refugee crisis: Troops deployed after charity warns that without intervention there would be a 'catastrophic' number of deaths

Some 300 soldiers will be sent to two major bases in the war-ravaged nation as part of a new east Africa mission designed to tackle migration at its source.

They will be part of a UN peacekeeping mission in a country gripped by the world's first famine in six years. It will be one of the largest deployments of UK troops across the globe.

The Daily Mail was granted access to a crisis clinic where starving toddlers are being treated after they were forced to flee from gunmen carrying out massacres.

They were saved from death by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) - which receives British foreign aid money.

Speaking from war-torn Ganyiel, aid workers from the IRC warned without 'urgent' intervention there will be a 'catastrophic' number of deaths in the country.

They said the civil war had created a 'melting pot' which had culminated in children fighting for survival.

Lieutenant Colonel Jason Ainley, the commanding officer in the country, said UK troops, along with others, were 'playing a huge role in trying to alleviate the problems here in South Sudan'.

He said: 'Our part in this mission is contributing to the UN objective of solving the source of the problem. There is no doubt, this is a major deployment for the UK.

'The UK will play a significant role in the coming months. We have been preparing for this for 6-8 months and to be finally here it fills you with pride.'

Defence minister Mike Penning, who visited the region, said: 'This mission, along with others in the region, aims to end destabilising conflict that is prompting migration and shows how Britain works globally to promote security.'

Some 1.6million people have either been displaced or fled to neighbouring countries in the past eight months as a result of a famine and fighting.

More than 2,800 people are fleeing the country every day to neighbouring African nations.

Those that have stayed in the country are reliant on aid cash - but it is running out.

One of those currently seeing the benefits of UK aid cash at the IRC clinic is Ton Biel, 27.

She was forced to flee her home in the middle of the night with her four children - including twins - as tribesmen raided her village and shot dead her husband.

After wading for eight hours through marshland, Mrs Biel and her children, Luelgok, Nyaboth, aged 1, Nyak, 4, and Nyareik, 10, arrived at the town of Ganyiel.

Speaking from the centre, she said: 'I am scared we will die. I am scared the tribesmen will come from the villages.

'I am scared of starvation. If we had stayed there (Polmok village), we would have died of hunger and it was not safe.

'We don't know whether we will survive this year or not.'

She was taken in by the Ganyiel primacy care centre - covering an area of 99,000 people - because her emaciated twins nearly died on the journey.

Weighing just 5kg each at 18-months-old - and with their arm width at just 10cm, the girl and boy twins are suffering from severe malnutrition.

She said: 'I am here because my children are sick. Their father died and I cannot feed them alone.

'He was killed by tribesmen who raided our home in November.'

Speaking about the incident as she fed one of the twins, she said: 'We heard shooting noises and we were scared and my husband told me to run and keep running with our children.

'We ran to the bushes and hid there. Then we came back and he was lying dead on the floor. He had been shot.'

She added: 'We had to leave. It took us eight hours to get to Ganyiel. My children were ill, and I was struggling to produce enough milk because of my sorrow.

'We waded through the marshes and survived on wild fruits and water lilies.'

Crucially, the IRC is equipped with canoes to navigate through the swamps to remote islands off the River Nile and reach those who need it most.

Doctor Stacey Mearns, a health co-ordinator with the IRC's emergency response team, said: 'The level of need is enormous here and it is challenging because of access and insecurity.

'Our biggest issue is the geography, it is difficult getting to people because of the swamps and marshes which is why we need to use canoes.

'These people are on the brink of survival.

'The level of humanitarian suffering is overwhelming. Without urgent humanitarian intervention, there will be a catastrophic number of deaths.

'People will simply starve to death and many more will suffer and die from disease.'

Speaking of the causes, she added: 'The war has directly caused the famine.

'It created a melting pot that has brewed and brewed and culminated in this situation.

'I think it would be completely immoral and unjust to stand back and watch catastrophic numbers of people die from famine.'

As well as starvation, children are also dying from cholera and other diseases such as malaria and pneumonia.

One million people - including hundreds of thousands of children - are on the brink of starvation due to the man-made crisis.

Famine has been declared in two counties in South Sudan, where civil war between different tribes has raged since 2013.

Britain has pledged £100million out of its £12billion foreign aid budget to South Sudan for this year.

Babar Baloch, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, has warned: 'A famine produced by the vicious combination of fighting and drought is now driving the world's fastest growing refugee crisis.'

Aid minister Priti Patel said: 'UK Aid is providing a lifeline for those fleeing unimaginable horrors but without concrete steps to end the violence by those in power more people will die long, slow painful deaths from the brutal famine.'