On Friday, December 9th NRC’s South Sudan Country Director was asked to leave South Sudan after having been detained by National Security for more than 24 hours. He has now arrived in Nairobi and is unharmed.
“The expulsion of our Country Director is a serious setback to our humanitarian work for civilians in dire need of support. The government should prioritize to bring an end to the violence that has displaced more than 3 million of its citizens – one million of whom are now refugees in neighbouring countries. To undermine our relief to vulnerable citizens’ is an affront to the international humanitarian community in South Sudan,” said Jan Egeland, Secretary General of NRC.
The Norwegian Refugee Council has been active in southern Sudan since 2004 and South Sudan since its independence in 2011. Across South Sudan, NRC runs field operations and has mobile teams on standby ready to reach remote areas and the people most in need.
“This may negatively impact the ability for humanitarian organisations at large to operate in South Sudan. The victims of this decision are people in need,” said Egeland.
We are calling on the Government of South Sudan to reverse its decision and to cooperate fully with all international organizations working on behalf of the South Sudanese people and to ensure a conducive environment for delivering timely, principled and quality humanitarian assistance to the people suffering in South Sudan.
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