By Bida Elly David
Following fear of border security threats with Sudan, the National Security Council (NCA) has set a strategic plan to carry out a comprehensive disarmament exercise on armed civilians especially the refugees fleeing the conflict in Sudan.
Last week, the Minister of Information, Michael Makuei Lueth warned of boarder security risks if armed refugees leaving Sudan are not disarmed.
He said the influx of armed refugees and the returnees will hamper the progress of the peace roadmap implementation that is yet to reach deadline.
Speaking to journalists recently, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, the Minister of Presidential Affairs said no armed refugees from the Sudan will be permitted entry to any of the camp without thorough security check for civil safety.
He said that this resolution was conceived during the national security meeting last week as a mechanism to safeguard South Sudan and its citizens against external threats and dangers that would at any time disrupt the on-going agreement.
Minister Barnaba stressed that the national security body will soon set a battalion to be paraded towards the boarder to empty armed civilians and other forces having no political agenda of keeping guns.
He noted that the government will not entertain any resistance or intrusion from any foreign body that will stand against the national progress towards peace and stability.
“In the meeting of the national security council, it was clear to our forces at the boarder that those coming with arms at the boarder will not be allowed to enter refugee camps with the arms and taken. So, there is a clear position for anybody coming out from the warring areas into South Sudan to be disarmed” Barnaba said.
He reiterated that the national Security Council resolution will never be reversed since no trust shall be granted for all the refugees upon entry with firearms and other risky military objects noting that the forces at the border will be alert for easy detection.
Barnaba said South Sudan and Sudan shall not turn-off their backs against one another as far as the love for conflict resolution is concerned.
The presidential affairs minister noted that despite the historical problems that both Countries face, the two governments commit to help one another until everlasting peace prevails.
At the same note, Barnaba added that the current conflicting generals in the Sudan have severally partaken in helping South Sudan resolve their conflicts through dialogue thus the opposite is true.
He said that if they the warring principals choose to have Juba as their scope of dialogue then president Kiir will be in position to welcome them in good spirit.
Despite having possibility to dialogue in Juba, a question on the stand of the incomplete Juba agreement remains undefined for the same government.
“President Salva Kiir has been working to keep them apart not to break down into fighting and this has been going for quite a long time. That possibility to come here will make president Salva to be very happy to welcome them” said Barnaba.
However, minister Barnaba added that the chairperson of the national transitional committee (NTC) Tut Gatluak with his team is busy pushing the warring parties to undertake dialogue to quell the situation in the Sudan.