11 South Sudanese flee Ukraine, stranded in Poland
At least 11 South Sudanese nationals are reportedly stranded in Poland after fleeing Ukraine amid a looming internet shutdown.
A source who spoke to The City Review Sunday said the group of 11 left Ukraine on Saturday but their whereabouts remained unknown as of Sunday.
Lukudu Mikaddu, a medical student in Ukraine, said the South Sudanese nationals, one of them identified as Peter Kerry, deserted the Ukrainian City of Lviv destined to Poland en route a heavily guarded border.
“There are 11 South Sudanese students who left Lviv (Ukraine) to the bordering cities of Poland,” he said. “But with the situation on the ground, they might have been stuck in Ukrainian City of Lviv, due to border entrance restriction policy from Polish and Ukrainian guards.”
Mikaddu made the revelation during a Twitter Space conversation on the safety of Nigerian students in Ukraine. This prompted a South Sudanese participant to post the same question to South Sudanese on Twitter.
South Sudan has no diplomatic mission in Ukraine according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. This further complicates the possibility of rendering immediate support to South Sudanese in Ukraine.
On Friday this week, the government requested its diplomats in European countries to establish the number of South Sudanese living in Ukraine and Russia after tension between the two countries escalated.
“We are very much concerned about the situation in Ukraine because of the insecurity and safety of any South Sudan that has been in Ukraine, but we have asked our embassies in Europe and our citizens,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deng Dau, was quoted by Eye Radio to have said.
“We don’t have an embassy in Ukraine. We have asked our diplomats to give us information regarding the citizens of South Sudan in Ukraine, Students or citizens who have taken refuge there. As soon as we get the information we will be able to share it with you. We have asked our embassies across Europe and Moscow to give us the details of South Sudanese in Ukraine,” the official added.
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have fled and continue to flee their country as Russia advances military aggression to major cities, including Kyiv despite calls for dialogue.
However, viral footage of a video allegedly taken from Ukraine shows Africans being denied entrance into a train leaving the country with authorities saying priorities should be given to Ukrainians.
