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South Sudan U-turn On Banning Foreign Workers
http://www.africaeagle.com/2014/09/south-sudan-u-turn-on-banning-foreign.html
South Sudan's government says it will not expel foreign workers, annulling a decree it issued a day earlier.
There was no government policy ordering foreign workers to leave by 15 October, Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said at a press conference.
Thousands of people working for aid agencies and private firms would have been affected by the decree.
On Tuesday, the charity Oxfam warned that expulsions would negatively affect aid programmes in Sudan.
Nearly two million people have fled their homes since two factions of the ruling party fell out in December.
'Fair chance'
Thousands of people have died in the fighting and aid agencies say up to four million people are at risk of food shortages because of the crisis.
Mr Benjamin, in an address to journalists in the capital, Juba, appeared to suggest that an earlier circular issued by the labour ministry giving a months' notice for certain positions to be declared vacant was released prematurely, says the BBC's Denis Okari in neighbouring Kenya.
The labour ministry was still in the process of working on employment regulations that would give skilled locals a fair chance to get jobs in private companies and non-governmental organisations, Mr Benjamin said.
Thousands of workers from Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Uganda would have been affected by the directive, our reporter says.
The circular listed nine roles - executive directors, personnel managers, secretaries, human relations officers, public relation officers, procurement officers, front desk officers, protocol officers and receptionists - that had to be filled by "competent South Sudanese nationals" from 15 October.
On Tuesday, Helen Achiro Lotara, the under secretary at the labour ministry, told the BBC the aim was to ensure that 80% of managerial-level positions were held by locals.
South Sudan is the world's newest state after gaining independence in 2011.
The education system is in ruins following decades of conflict.
Fighting erupted in the South Sudan capital, Juba, in December 2013. It followed a political power struggle between President Salva Kiir and his ex-deputy Riek Machar. The squabble has taken on an ethnic dimension as politicians' political bases are often ethnic.
Source: BBC Africa
There was no government policy ordering foreign workers to leave by 15 October, Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said at a press conference.
Thousands of people working for aid agencies and private firms would have been affected by the decree.
On Tuesday, the charity Oxfam warned that expulsions would negatively affect aid programmes in Sudan.
Nearly two million people have fled their homes since two factions of the ruling party fell out in December.
'Fair chance'
Thousands of people have died in the fighting and aid agencies say up to four million people are at risk of food shortages because of the crisis.
Mr Benjamin, in an address to journalists in the capital, Juba, appeared to suggest that an earlier circular issued by the labour ministry giving a months' notice for certain positions to be declared vacant was released prematurely, says the BBC's Denis Okari in neighbouring Kenya.
The labour ministry was still in the process of working on employment regulations that would give skilled locals a fair chance to get jobs in private companies and non-governmental organisations, Mr Benjamin said.
Thousands of workers from Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Uganda would have been affected by the directive, our reporter says.
The circular listed nine roles - executive directors, personnel managers, secretaries, human relations officers, public relation officers, procurement officers, front desk officers, protocol officers and receptionists - that had to be filled by "competent South Sudanese nationals" from 15 October.
On Tuesday, Helen Achiro Lotara, the under secretary at the labour ministry, told the BBC the aim was to ensure that 80% of managerial-level positions were held by locals.
South Sudan is the world's newest state after gaining independence in 2011.
The education system is in ruins following decades of conflict.
Fighting erupted in the South Sudan capital, Juba, in December 2013. It followed a political power struggle between President Salva Kiir and his ex-deputy Riek Machar. The squabble has taken on an ethnic dimension as politicians' political bases are often ethnic.
Source: BBC Africa
