South Sudan, Sudan in talks over safety of nationals
July 15, 2024 (JUBA)- South Sudan and neighboring Sudan are discussing mechanisms through which the safety of South Sudanese nationals currently trapped in the conflict areas of war-torn Sudan could be guaranteed.
South Sudan’s Foreign Affairs minister, Ramadan Abdallah Goch said discussions at the top leadership levels are continuing to safeguard the safety of the nationals from South Sudan after reports and graphic images depicting how authorities in Sudan have been handling South Sudanese nationals emerged in recent weeks.
“We have seen reports and graphic images and as the government we have a way of conducting verifications and channels through which such issues are addressed”, he told Sudan Tribune.
The South Sudanese official said the government would use appropriate channels to verify and raise the issue which have already attracted public attention.
In recent weeks, there have been graphical images of South Sudanese nationals being thrown on pick-up trucks and put in congested enclosures as waiting areas in preparation for deportation to states in South Sudan at the border with Sudan.
In 2012, the two countries signed a cooperation granting four freedoms agreement, allowing citizens of both states to enjoy “freedom of residence, freedom of movement, freedom to undertake economic activity and freedom to acquire and dispose of property.
Professor Yanga William, one of the concerned citizens advocating for saving lives and properties of South Sudanese nationals in Sudan, called for an extension of the limited duration of notice issued by the Sudanese authorities.
Such an extension, he argued, would allow citizens to prepare and leave safely.
William said authorities in Sudan have launched a crackdown on South Sudanese refugees living in the country, with security forces arresting and deporting them through Jabelein, a border town near the South Sudan state of Upper Nile.
“How arrests are made has been raising concerns. Many fear some of the returnees could face persecution upon return. Others had legitimate reasons for fleeing the country and sought refuge in different states in Sudan which has been hosting both military and political dissidents. Their supporters and leaders have previously used as a haven and used Sudanese authorities as mediators in their grievances with the government of South Sudan under the president”, he added.
Gen. Simon Gatwec Dual, a leader of a breakaway faction of the armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO) operating in Kitgwang, an area on the northern Upper Nile State in South Sudan, remains active. Sources told Sudan Tribune that Dual had not shown up at the talks having reportedly been strapped in Sudan, unable to either return to South Sudan in response to numerous presidential amnesties extended by dissident groups or relocate to a third country.
It is unclear whether some of his fighters had slipped into one of the rival sides in the Sudanese conflict. Stephen Buoy Rolnyang, another rebel leader operating at Sudan-South Sudan border, also had fighters with family members in Sudan.
Rolnyang is participating in the Kenyan-led mediation with the holdout group.
Analysts have pointed out that the latest crackdown in Sudan, targeting South Sudanese who have lived and owned properties in different states and cities in Sudan is a depiction of war in which people without known established sides could be a subject of suspicion and distrust.
Military authorities and national security agents, who have powers to arrest without hesitation, have been accusing foreigners and anti-war activists of being agents of the paramilitary Rapid Support Force. Others have, however, claimed that family members of some South Sudanese fighting alongside Sudan armed forces have not been targeted, attracting mixed opinions on the approach.
(ST)