The Citizens’ Call for Emergency Evacuation, a predominantly youth-led voluntary group, has urged for diplomacy in facilitating the safe return home of thousands of South Sudanese stranded in Sudan.
In April 2023, clashes erupted between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and quickly spread to the rest of the country.
According to the United Nations, over 1 million people have now fled the Sudanese war into South Sudan, illustrating the scale of the humanitarian crisis.
Following the conflict, foreign governments stepped up efforts and evacuated their citizens stranded in one of Africa’s deadliest wars. In South Sudan, such efforts were led by, among others, the Citizens’ Call for Emergency Evacuation, with the support of partners.
The group’s team leader, Akoc Manhiem, said they facilitated the return of 10,000 South Sudanese since the conflict erupted in Africa’s third-largest country.
Love for the country, he said, motivated him to partner with colleagues to help evacuate fellow compatriots.
“When Sudan’s war erupted, many countries started evacuating their citizens. As citizens, we do not have to wait for the government; it is our responsibility to come aid of the government. To our people, my message is that a good citizen makes a good government and a good citizen should come out of our people,” he said. “We volunteered as young people working for various institutions. The government, through the humanitarian affairs ministry, has its plan, so we could not wait for them. We see there is a huge gap we need to fill as individuals.”
“I give credit to South Sudanese, we are very generous people; if we have something, we share with those in need, and during a fundraiser at Dr. John Garang Musoleum, we were able to raise over SSP 100 million, equivalent to USD 100,000 at the time,” Manhiem added.
He said the proceeds from the fundraising helped assist the needy South Sudanese returnees.
“We hired trucks with a capacity of 300, 400, or 500 people to evacuate people from Khartoum to the Joda border area. From there, aid agencies like IOM and UNHCR helped us transport returnees to various parts of the country,” he revealed. “So far, we have evacuated a total of 10,500 individuals. Also, some aviation companies came to our aid.”
Manhiem urged South Sudanese to shun tribalism, saying his group reflects the country’s diversity and that there was no tribal classification when they were evacuating returnees from Sudan.
Looking forward, the group expressed commitment to diversifying its activities.
“Currently, we also assist some returnee families. Citizens’ Call is registered as an NGO,” he said. “If this situation created by the Sudan war is over, we will assist the government by being involved in other emergencies. For instance, we may get ambulances to support our hospitals.”