S. Sudan Denies Expelling Foreign Workers

The South Sudanese government has vehemently denied reports that it is expelling foreign workers from the country.



"There is no statement in the republic of South Sudan that we are expelling foreign workers," Foreign Affairs Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin told reporters on Wednesday.



"This government cares for our relationship [with foreign workers]. We are not an island. We have humanitarian actors, we have people working with us, and I repeat again that no foreigner will be thrown out of this country," he said.



Last week, the Labor Ministry issued a directive suggesting that the government was regulating – if not prohibiting – the employment of "aliens" in South Sudan's private sector.



The directive urged NGOs and private companies – including banks, insurance companies, telecommunication networks, hotels and lodges – to notify all foreigners working with them that their contracts would be terminated between September 15 and October 15.



"We don't want to create restlessness among our guests in this country," Benjamin said. "Ugandans, Eritreans, Ethiopians, Kenyans – anybody is free to come to this country."



The foreign minister added that his country was working on labor laws that would help regulate employment in the future.



"The ministry of labor will work on these laws and call all institutions and discuss [these laws] with them," he said.



Labor Minister Ngor Kolong Ngor, for his part, issued a statement in which he played down the new restrictions.  



"We are not talking about technical or professional positions, such as nurses, heads of mission, country directors and financial controllers of any institutions, including banking, insurance, hotel and non-governmental organizations," the statement read.



"It excludes all U.N. agencies, diplomatic corporations and organizations that signed bilateral/mutual agreement with the Republic of South Sudan," it added.



"We are targeting low-level positions existing in the various organizations – financial institutions, hotels, etc. – whose composition will not reach 40 percent of the total staffing structure," the statement went on.



With illiteracy standing at about 75 percent in South Sudan, hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals currently work in the country in all sorts of jobs, from receptionists and waiters to consultants in key government institutions and NGOs.



Fast food restaurants, water sales, beauty salons and most odd jobs are often performed by foreigners, especially those from Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Eritrea.



By Okech Francis



englishnews@aa.com.tr



www.aa.com.tr/en - Cuba