CEPO Director Edmund Yakani | Photo: File/ Office of the President

A civil society activist has called on the government to explain reports that non-South Sudanese criminals deported from the United States are being sent to South Sudan.

Edmund Yakani, the Executive Director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, says the country must not be treated as a dumping ground.

This comes after reports that several foreign nationals, including individuals from Asia and one South Sudanese citizen, were deported from the U.S. on Wednesday.

According to media reports, allegedly deported individuals were convicted of serious crimes in the U.S., and have no legal or national connection to South Sudan.

When contacted for comment, National Police Spokesperson Major General James Monday Enoka said there was no information confirming that the Asian nationals deported by the Trump administration had arrived in the country.

Yakani said his organization has been quietly following the trend for months, but decided to speak out due to rising concerns over national security and public safety.

“We have seen the new administration of U.S. deport individuals who are identified as individuals who have committed crimes of high level that are associated with rape and other crimes… they are Vietnamese and Belarus, they are not South Sudanese, they don’t bear any South Sudan identity and they are now being deported to South Sudan,” he said.

Yakani welcomed a statement from the police spokesperson, who said the foreign individuals would be sent back to their countries of origin.

He urged the government to act swiftly on that statement.

“With a high respect of constructive and respect of human rights and rule of law, we need to see these individuals not staying in South Sudan… This should be the first and the last,” he stressed.

Yakani said South Sudan is ready to receive its own citizens and hold them accountable through legal processes, but it should not be forced to take in criminals from other countries.