Southern Sudanese fear forced repatriation

Christians from South Sudan who had until Easter Sunday April 8 to try to become citizens of Sudan or be deported, fear authorities will use the occasion to rid the country of Christianity, church leaders said.

According to a story by Compass Direct News, more than 500,000 citizens of southern ethnic origin who have been living in Sudan for decades - some of them born there - will be considered foreigners after Sunday.

Human rights organisations have called on Khartoum to grant them more time to either leave, or apply for citizenship.

Compass said Christian leaders expressed concern that local media such as the daily Al Intibaha newspaper have been stoking hatred against predominantly Christian southern Sudanese, describing them as "cancer cells in the body of Sudan, the land of the Arab and Islam."

Local leaders have also been calling on the government to deport them.

"The local media are becoming very hostile toward us who are still in the north," one Christian told Compass by phone on condition of anonymity. Banners have appeared in Khartoum streets calling on the government and Muslims in general to harass and expel southern Sudanese, some of whom are also Muslims. South Sudan seceded from Sudan in a referendum last July 9.

Compass said the government of Sudan has begun issuing national numbers to designate citizens of Sudan, denying the designation to Sudanese of southern origin. Without a national number, southern Sudanese have no citizenship rights to work or education.

Churches in Sudan have already suffered losses in numbers as many members prepare for forced repatriation, Compass reported Christian leaders said.

"We are monitoring the situation and praying to God to protect us," said a church leader who spoke on condition of anonymity.