The fate of an estimated 500,000 Southerners in Sudan remains unclear as the the Sudanese government gave contradictory statements on the 'deportation deadline' of today. Khartoum intends to treat citizens of neighbouring South Sudan as foreigners. This means that Southerners should either leave the country or be officially registered as foreign.

President Omar Al Bashir reassured the chair of the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP) Thabo Mbeki this week by saying that there is 'no reason for fear' among the Southerners living in Sudan. The Sudanese President told Mbeki that 'nothing will happen to them'.

Today, however, a contradictory statement followed from Mr. Haj Suleiman, the head of the Sudanese Legislative Affairs. He continued to threaten deportation and urged Southerners to register themselves.

Stranded in Kosti

Millions of Southerners began an exodus back to their homes in the South after Khartoum announced the deadline. Many of them never reached home and stranded in Kosti in the border region of Sudan and South Sudan. They stranded at the border due to the ongoing violence in the region.

Returnees in Kosti told Radio Tamazuj that the situation is 'getting worse day by day': 'We are waiting in inhumane conditions for months.' Humanitarian organizations are reportedly banned from the area: no food or water reaches the people who can not continue their travel to the South.

Four freedoms

Farouk Mohammed Ibrahim, activist and academic coordinator of the Sudanese Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms (SODRF) told Radio Tamazuj that the Sudanese government should stick to their agreement initiated in Addis Ababa granting citizens of both states the 'four freedoms': freedom of residence, freedom of movement, freedom to undertake economic activity and freedom to acquire and dispose property.