The Appalling Situation of the South Sudanese Nationals in Egypt Needs an Urgent Intervention from Juba
By Mabil Manyok Nhial, Gweru, Zimbabwe
Tuesday, December 17, 2019 (PW) — People who have ever travelled to Egypt as students, tourists, patients seeking medication or any foreigners therein, have not been so silent about the Egyptian mistreatments towards black Africans in Egypt. The most affected ones, as of now, are students, who are on scholarships.
South Sudanese students in Egypt have been disappearing almost on daily basis in Egypt and the government of Egypt has been silent on this serious issue. To the chagrin of the citizens whose students have fallen victims of these satanic Egyptian practice, the government of South Sudan has not done anything to ensure that the students who are on government scholarships are safe. The Embassy of South Sudan has been so numb and dumb watching the students of South Sudan getting killed, brutalised and exceedingly persecuted in Egypt!
It is not good to be silent after seeing death cases of similar magnitude happening and nothing is done! The Ambassador has to make sure that such egregious and heinous killings and persecutions of our citizens are controlled by the Egyptian government. It does not make any positive impression to keep receiving corpses for our dear ones from Egypt!!! This has to cease!
It was in November this year, when my good friend, in the person of Daniel Garang Tong, who graduated earlier this year from Ain Shams University, got killed in hospital in Egypt. It was not long after his death that some other South Sudanese students and residents fell prey in Egypt.
I woke up this morning to my utter shock when I got to know that another 24-year-old student called Eliano Gong Achuil from Ain Shams University disappeared on the 15th December, 2019 when he left the hostel in the morning heading to Madi residential areas. As confirmed from one of the students at the same university, talking to his cousin on phone, Gong stated the following from unknown location:
“I was intoxicated and abducted yesterday on Sunday, 15th and taken to an unknown location until now, I don’t know where I am, the kidnappers locked me up in a dark room where I can’t see anything. As I am talking with you, the kidnappers gave me the phone with low battery and they will take it from me shortly.”
“He was intoxicated and kidnapped yesterday on Sunday, 15th December and taken to an unknown location until this evening at 8PM he was able to call and inform one of his relatives that he was abducted and he does not know where he is and his phone went off,” Yak Angell Athuai stated.
The disappearance of this gentleman has stirred up worries among the students who are related to him and those who are not. They’ve been reaching for his whereabouts for so long, but their intention bore no fruit. As I got concerned about these callous inhumane acts against the South Sudanese students and other South Sudanese citizens in Egypt, Quei Anan Quei has this to say “we all are hoping for a strong wake up.
For recognition as human beings in the land of Egypt. We have endured defamation, wrath and death, but everything has limits. Everything gets tired, if students had choices, they would not be here. But if we don’t matter to our country for one bit, the fact that we are its NATIONALS bearing its names should send a signal that their children’s tears are going to bring a curse upon the nation. We just need help!!”
Coupled to that, another South Sudanese student in the name of Akol Akoon, was attacked by Egyptian rogues, leaving a big long cut from his cheek to the neck, in Cairo, Egypt. “As we are engaged in searching for Gong, here is another incident. Akol Akoon got attacked last night and this is his situation now,” stated Senator Clement Bey exposing the deep cut on the victim’s neck.
There has been a plethora of such similar cases in Egypt. It is a known fact that such criminals, some of whom are actual medical practitioners, have been engaging in human organs trafficking. There has been some scintilla of evidence that proves this, in that many corpses are usually found with internal organs removed.
Well, it is sometimes an obvious fact that “a dog which would not attempt to bite you in your own home can bite, when you are in a foreign home” as the Dinka proverb goes. This has been exceeded by these rancorous nasty treatments that South Sudanese and other foreigners are getting in Egypt. It appears as if Egypt has good relations with South Sudan, but this becomes so blurred and senseless when one hears and sees such egregious acts committed by Egyptians against South Sudanese citizens.
What makes it more heinous is the fact that such inhumane treatments are even found in public institutions such as hospitals as indicated in the case of Daniel Garang Tong, a law graduate from Ain Shams University, who was killed last month in hospital in Egypt.
The Government of South Sudan should take a prompt intervention and come to the rescue of the students on the government scholarship in Egypt simply because their safety is very much questionable! They should not be allowed to stay in anxiety when indeed they were taken by the government. Killing a foreigner for human organs trafficking has become an issue which does not matter in Egypt.
This should be frowned upon by the government of South Sudan! A nation is a nation because of her citizens. Any nation that kills foreign nationals of a particular nation is certainly killing that nation. The government of South Sudan should hear the cries of its citizens who are the victims of daily killings by devilish Egyptian rascals. Most of the victims are actually the students who were taken there by the government.
It causes no harm for the government of South Sudan to ask the Egyptian government to make some adjustments on this uncouth behaviour of its citizens, who are killing South Sudanese nationals in Egypt. If the Egyptian government no longer provides security for foreign students therein, then it would be just for the Republic of South Sudan to revise her relations with Egypt!
As such, it would be wise for the South Sudanese government to bring our students back to national universities if our dear people continued being murdered on daily basis, so that they can continue with their studies without being demoted to lower levels and have their lives saved.
For instance, those who are going to second year next year should begin from second year if they were to be brought back to the country. Above all, I urge our government to quickly come to the rescue of our dear nationals in Egypt most especially the students on scholarships therein.
Mabil Manyok Nhial teaches at Malek Secondary School, but currently in his fifth year of his LLB (Hons) Degree at Midlands State University, Zimbabwe.
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