Juba calls on Sudan to reverse its decision on South Sudanese

March 23, 2016 (KAMPALA) – Ministry of foreign affairs in South Sudan has called on the neighbouring Sudanese government to reverse its decision which required South Sudanese citizens living in Sudan to have their country’s passports in order to qualify for staying in Sudan.

“However, Sudan has provoked such a move on our people living there [Sudan]. We in South Sudan will not follow the same [action] with its [Sudan’s] citizens in Juba and elsewhere in the country. We will treat them equally as our own citizens,” the ministry’s spokesman, Mawein Makol, told Sudan Tribune on Wednesday.

“We in the government of South Sudan are clearly concerned about our people there, therefore, we are advising the Sudan government to cancel such moves for benefit of the two countries. We will continue not to take any action on Sudanese people in the South,” he said.

On 17 March the Sudanese government in its weekly cabinet meeting chaired by President Omer al-Bashir decided to end open door policy for South Sudanese. Khartoum said no South Sudanese national will be allowed to reside in the country without Identity card from his government and an entry visa.

South Sudan embassy in Khartoum said Sudan has now started taking serious actions on South Sudanese by prosecuting those without proper documents.

“On Tuesday this week, our embassy in Khartoum has observed prosecutions measures being taken on our people by the police acting under state authority orders. Our people are now being subjected [to harassment] even before the deadline,” said Deng Dangdit, South Sudanese chargé d”affairs at the embassy.

“We have now received many cases including the police raid on school run by church for South Sudanese in Khartoum,” he said, addin’ that the Sudanese police have also imposed money payment from South Sudanese when they are landing at Khartoum International Airport.

In February 2015, the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, launched a registration process aiming to provide the refugees with an ID cards.

The ID cards was legally recognised proof of identity by the Sudanese government, and granted them the rights to stay, work and move freely in Sudan, as well as have access to civil status documents and other public services available to Sudanese citizen.

According to humanitarian aid agencies, thousands of South Sudanese have been fleeing into Sudan just recently due to food shortages and conflict in the country.

There are nearly 500,000 South Sudanese in Sudan. 200,000 of them arrived after the eruption of an inter South Sudanese conflict in December 2013. But even those who remained in Sudan since the independence may of them have no identity cards.

(ST)