South Sudan's London Embassy Closes Due to Pay Rent

A South Sudanese diplomat says his country's embassy in London^[1] has been closed due to a failure to pay rent since August.

A reporter for VOA's South Sudan in Focus confirmed that South Sudan's embassy in Great Britain was closed on Tuesday.

A spokesman for South Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs insisted his government has not received official notice from its landlord in London.

"We are trying to our best so that we are able to pay the arrears that are needed by the landlords,'' Mawien Makol Arik told VOA.

Makol acknowledged the embassy is experiencing financial difficulties.

'We are aware of the difficulties that the [London] embassy has been going through as regards to the obligations that are needed for that embassy to carry its duty including the rent and other things," he said.

South Sudan's government announced in 2015 it would temporarily close down many of its embassies as the war-torn country's economy deteriorated. The country has about 24 embassies and missions in Africa, Middle East, Europe, Asia and America.

In June last year South Sudan recalled its top diplomats from seven countries, but said the recalls have nothing to do with the country's economic crisis.

The crisis, sparked by four years of civil war, has left South Sudan's government strapped for cash, and most of the country's envoys around the world have not received salaries for up to one year.

South Sudanese diplomats in Washington were finally paid one month's salary this month.

References

1. ^{^} embassy in London (embrss.org.uk)