March 17, 2012 (JUBA) –  After the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement CPA in 2005 in which South Sudan got greater autonomy to rule itself under the then Government of Southern Sudan, a large number of influx of people from neighboring countries, of people looking for opportunities flocked the war ruined cities and towns of South Sudan. A good number of them came to Juba, the capital city of South Sudan. Unlike South Sudanese people who were taking refuge in these neighboring countries because of the war, this migration is purposely meant for work. They came to South Sudan looking for jobs; some of them have skills, and the most are the jack of all trades. Now the number of foreigners in this country is very alarming, they are competing with the indigenous people in every walk of life making it harder for our people to sustain their livelihood. There is nothing wrong with citizens of certain countries to go to other countries looking for opportunities in life, but their existence must be regulated by law which is not the case in South Sudan.

These foreigners are not refugees who fled their countries because of war, or natural disasters, but they are work seeking migrants. It was very hard or even difficult for the authorities to restrict their influx due to some reasons which are encompassing the weakness of the institutions concerned with immigration. The Ministry of Interior must do its best to deal with this menacing problem that the citizens are facing. Presence of foreigners in this country has exceeded the point of tolerance, and this is because of the following reasons: Firstly, the existence of a large number of Somali traders is very risky as these people might be connected with the extremist organizations like Al Shabaab and Al Qaeda, securitywise it is very dangerous to allow people coming from terrorist stricken country like Somalia into the country without proper regulations of their entrance. These people might cause havoc in the near future like they are doing these days in Kenya, throwing explosives and grenades into bars and bus stations where there is a crowd of people. The Somalis have controlled the fuel sector, their companies are the ones trading in fuel in South Sudan. Our national companies working in the same field got difficulty to compete because of the novice in that business and also the government does not want to foster the national companies in every field of business.

Secondly, South Sudan is not like United Arab Emirate, nor does Juba like Dubai whereby most of the people working in the private sector are foreigners. I don’t want to talk more about Dubai where most of its people own big business organizations, but in South Sudan and especially Juba, there is high expectation for the citizens to get jobs, because the little resource (money) that we get from oil is not even enough for development of infrastructures leave alone corporate responsibilities. Corruption has played a greater role in making large section of our people very poor. In plain language we did not reach the status of Emirates people in term of wealth and by promoting our people we will reach their status in the long run. If the government feels that the responsibility of creating jobs for the citizens is not a priority then it has missed the point. Economy and an employment rate play greater role in politics in western democracies.

If the Ministry of Interior cannot control the exodus of foreigners to South Sudan so how can those in the Ministry of Labor control their employment in private sector and especially NGOs and UN agencies, Telecom companies and even large business facilities? It is astonishing that even in government institutions some foreigners are working in key positions. How can the youth get jobs when they are stigmatized as lazy people, while those who accused them are the leaders that should have acknowledged the fact that it is the responsibility of the government to offer and create jobs for these graduates rather than accusing them of laziness.

If those in the Ministry of Labor do not know that their ministry is responsible for work force in the country, whether in public or private sector (NGOs, Business organizations, telecommunication and petroleum companies etc…) then they must be reminded that eighty per cent of the employees in any private business or companies must be nationals and the rest is left for skills that might need high expertise, and these high expertise positions could be occupied by foreigners whose work permits are to be arranged with the authorities concerned.

As a matter of fact, there is no need for oil operating companies to still keep Sudanese nationals here in South Sudan, with their remuneration higher than the South Sudanese who are working in the same companies. They are enjoying the rights of citizens here in South Sudan more than the ordinary citizens, protected by their masters who happen to be responsible figures in the country. It is shameful for these big people in the Republic of South Sudan to behave egocentrically, selfishly with ignorance and stubbornness impeding the process of law implementation, placing their interest first before public and national Interest. The authorities must prioritize the legalization of foreign existence and deal with it swiftly otherwise the majority of the people will be abhorred by their presence.