By William Madouk
Secretary-General of the United People’s Alliance (UPA), Lual Dau, condemned the recent killings of South Sudanese citizens in Wad Madani and urged the government to immediately evacuate nationals stranded in war-torn Sudan.
Speaking to Eye Radio Monday Morning, Mr. Dau stated that many South Sudanese continue to endure hardships and face brutal killings in Khartoum.
“As you all know that our people have been killed in Sudan. We in the United Peoples Alliance condemn this terrorist act by an Islamic militia that has been killing our people for so many years,” he said.
“The killing is still ongoing! I talked to relatives in Sudan, and many of them are still facing the same situation. Some have decided to run away and they are now between Sudan and South Sudan,” he added.
UPA called on the government of South Sudan to immediately vacate South Sudanese nationals stranded in Sudan.
“I call on the government of South Sudan to make sure that they rescue people along the borderline,” Mr. Dau noted.
“And also, to evacuate the rest of South Sudanese back home to South Sudan. Condemning it alone is not enough; we need action and the action is now,” he stressed.
On Sunday, South Sudan expressed growing frustration over delays in the investigation into the killing of its citizens in Wad Madani, Sudan.
This came during high-level talks in Juba between South Sudan’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Monday Semaya, and Sudanese Ambassador to South Sudan, Issam Mohamed Karrar, over the weekend.
Also, on Thursday, while speaking to the UN Security Council, South Sudan Foreign Affairs Minister, Ramadhan Abdallah Goc lamented about the ‘inhuman killing of innocent South Sudanese in Wad Madani.
“South Sudanese were brutally killed and we thank the African Union and Chairperson of East African Community, IGAD for their condemnation of what happened to our people,” he added.
He called upon the security council to join in a call for the investigation on the killing of South Sudanese people in Sudan.
However, this did not sit down well with his Sudanese counterpart, who criticized Ramadan for calling for UN and AU intervention to probe the alleged Sudanese army execution of South Sudanese citizens.
According to Sudan’s minister of foreign affairs the statements as unjustified and unacceptable.
Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said the government has exercised self-control regarding the South Sudanese transgressions in observance of historical relations between the peoples of the two countries.
It said the involvements of the South Sudanese mercenaries in war alongside the RSF have been documented.