South Sudan Vice President urges support for Sudanese refugees
October 4, 2023 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s Vice President and the Service Clusters chairperson, Hussein Abdelbagi Akol has called for support for Sudanese refugees amid concerns of the likely impact on the ongoing war on neighbouring nations.
He made the remarks while meeting Sudanese business communities on Tuesday.
“You know that the conflict in Sudan has entered more than five months since it started and it has not started despite the efforts of the region and the international community”, explained Akol.
The conflict, which started between the Sudanese army (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has displaced more than 5 million people since mid-April.
According to Akol, majority of Sudanese in the refugee settlements in Northern and Western Bahr el Ghazal, Warrap, Unity, Upper Nile states and in Ruweng administrative are not in the country by choice, but fled the conflict for safety.
“You all know war and how it affects people and this is why His Excellency President Salva Kiir Mayardit has made the issue of Sudan a priority to presented each time he meets foreign dignitaries. He does so because peace in Sudan means in South Sudan. It means the resumption of the movement of goods and people. It means stability. It represents hope and viability of trade”, he said.
The Vice President appealed to South Sudanese business communities and those in the diaspora to mobilize support for Sudanese professionals in the country.
“Some of these professionals, especially doctors were those for whom you would save money to travel. Specialized doctors are here. If you need those specialists to attend to women, children, kidneys and other diseases,” he stressed.
Akol has been meeting professionals from Sudanese over the past few days, giving them assurance of support from the Juba government led by President Kiir.
The conflict in Sudan, now in its fifth month, has dispersed most Sudanese professionals to Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan. While some professional fled to European countries, including England and France, others went to Saudia Arabia and the United Arabs Emirates.
(ST)