15 S. Sudanese killed, 40 injured in gang attacks in Egypt
September, 21, 2014 (JUBA) – Violent attacks by South Sudanese gangs on fellow youth in Egypt have resulted into 15 deaths and over 40 injury, a diplomat said in a report to lawmakers last week.
More than 70 criminal cases involving South Sudanese nationals have reportedly been filed at various police stations in Egypt.
Kon said the gangs mainly consisted of poor South Sudanese youth facing economic hardships after refusal to return to the country after its independence in 2011.
“These gangs are mainly uneducated and poor South Sudanese men between age 16 and 35; today their numbers range from 500 and above and they are based in Maadi, Ain Shams, Nasr City, Hai Alshara, Al Zeytoon and Abbaseya districts of Egypt,” he said.
Kon cited an incident in which five South Sudanese gangs attacked a Ugandan embassy official in Cairo. The case, he said, was filed at Maadi police station.
“There is a big number of South Sudanese criminals in the Egyptian prisons; they committed crimes such as raping, killing, looting, theft, drugs using all kinds of weapons like machetes, knives,” said the envoy.
“The gangs have since caused many churches that are accessed by South Sudanese to be shut down for fear of possible attacks and damage of church properties,” he added.
Meanwhile, South Sudanese lawmakers demanded that a high level delegation be sent on a fact finding mission to the Egyptian capital.
The MP, however, said it was Egypt’s responsibility to protect their embassy under the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
(ST)