South Sudan sends back ambassador to Egypt with answers to students strike
July 15, 2015 (JUBA) – South Sudan said on Wednesday it would send back its official representative to Cairo, Egypt, with answers to end more than three weeks strike by the students on government scholarships there.
“I came to consult with the leaders, specifically the ministry of education and the office of the president on the situation of our students who are studying in various Egyptian universities, who have suspended their studies and moved to the headquarters of the embassy demanding that they be paid their allowances,” said Anthony Kon, South Sudan’s ambassador to Egypt.
“We tried to resolve it but we realized that it was not something we could handle at the level of the embassy, so I had to come for consultation,” Kon told reporters on Wednesday in Juba.
Kon said he had received assurances of commitment of the government to resolve the problem, asking him to return to Egypt to the students with the greeting of the government and the family members of the students and assurances that their government has received their message.
He said he had finished consultation with all relevant authorities and received clear message of commitment to resolving problem, explaining that he would now be taking to the students the answer when he returns to Cairo over the weekend.
The official however did not say the kind of answers he will take to resolve the issue of allowances which provoked the protest in which the students have been occupying the headquarters of the embassy for more than three weekends since they left their campuses.
He did not also explain what caused the delay of payment of the budgeted allowances in the first place.
Kon said there were more than 150 students studying in Egypt with government’s scholarships with each of them entitled to be receiving about $100 per month as a study allowances to enable them buy books and other requirements, including internal transports in the country.
(ST)