Hundreds of Sudanese living in Juba gathered today for a press conference to dismiss alleged reports by the Khartoum government that they are being ill-treated by Southerners on grounds of their nationality and religion.
Addressing the gathering at a hotel in Juba, Mayor Al-hajji Mohammed Babala, said his position is enough evidence that South Sudan does not discriminate citizens due to their religious backgrounds.Mr. Babala is a Muslim.
The mayor of Juba narrated several allegations in which Khartoum had said they were forms of inequity, including attacks and arrest of Sudanese traders and denying Muslims from attending Juma prayers.
The traders defined the rumours as a tactic used by the Khartoum government to incite violence against South Sudanese leaving in the Sudan as a form of revenge.
The traders called upon their brothers in the north not to believe in this rumours.
SPLM secretary for information, culture and communication, Bol Makueng Yol, underlined that the Sudanese traders are saying that people should not believe in rumours that come from the NCP, the National Congress Party.
He added that President Salva Kiir Mayardit assured all Sudanese living in South Sudan access to all services like South Sudanese citizens.
Mr. Bol said the NCP is trying to rally Sudanese people with negative information about South Sudan.
The gathering was called under the auspices of South Sudan’s ruling SPLM, the Mayor’s office and the Muslim community.