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July 15, 2024 (Juba) – South Sudan and neighboring Sudan are discussing how to ensure the safety of South Sudanese nationals currently trapped in conflict zones in war-torn Sudan.
South Sudan’s Foreign Minister Ramadan Abdullah Goh said senior leaders were continuing discussions on how to guarantee the safety of South Sudanese nationals after reports and images emerged in recent weeks about how Sudanese authorities were handling South Sudanese nationals.
“We have seen the reports and the pictures and as a government we have the means to verify and the channels to address these issues,” he told Sudan Tribune.
South Sudanese officials said the government will verify and raise the issue, which has attracted public attention, through appropriate channels.
In recent weeks, images have emerged showing South Sudanese nationals being thrown into pickup trucks and kept in crowded pens waiting to be deported to South Sudanese states across the border with Sudan.
In 2012, the two countries signed a four-freedom agreement on cooperation, allowing citizens of both countries to enjoy “freedom of residence, freedom of movement, freedom to engage in economic activities, and freedom to acquire and dispose of property.”
Professor Yanga William, a concerned citizen committed to saving the lives and properties of South Sudanese citizens in Sudan, called on the Sudanese authorities to extend the limited notice period.
He believes such an extension would allow citizens to prepare and leave safely.
William said Sudanese authorities have launched a crackdown on South Sudanese refugees living in the country, with security forces arresting and expelling them through the border town of Jabelin near South Sudan’s Upper Nile state.
“The manner in which the arrests were made raises concerns. Many fear that some of the returnees may face persecution upon return. Others have legitimate reasons for fleeing the country and have sought refuge in different states of Sudan that have been hosting military and political dissidents. Their supporters and leaders have used the Sudanese authorities as a refuge and mediator to resolve their grievances against the South Sudanese government under the leadership of the President,” he added.
General Simon Gatwek Dual is the leader of the breakaway faction of the armed opposition (SPLM-IO) which is still active in Kitwan in the northern part of Upper Nile state in South Sudan. Sources told Sudan Tribune that Dual did not attend the talks as he is reportedly trapped in Sudan and cannot return to South Sudan in response to the presidential amnesty that has been granted several times by dissident groups, nor can he move to a third country.
It is not clear whether some of his fighters have defected to the opposing side in Sudan’s conflict. Another rebel leader, Stephen Buyi Rolnyan, who operates on the Sudan-South Sudan border, also has family members fighting in Sudan.
Rolnjan is participating in a Kenyan-led mediation effort against the resistance group.
Analysts point out that Sudan’s recent crackdown against South Sudanese who live and own different states and cities in Sudan is a manifestation of a war in which people who have not yet determined their sides can become objects of suspicion and mistrust.
Military authorities and state security agents, who have the power to arrest without hesitation, have been accusing foreigners and anti-war activists of being agents of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. However, others claim that family members of some South Sudanese who fought alongside the Sudanese armed forces were not targeted, raising different opinions on the approach.
(English stone)
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