South Sudan asks EU to support lifting of sanctions

JUBA, South Sudan

South Sudan on Thursday appealed to the EU to help lift arms embargo and sanctions on the country imposed by the US.

Deng Dau Deng, South Sudan's deputy foreign minister, said they are urging the EU to help persuade the US and the UN Security Council to lift the sanctions imposed since 2017.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency by phone, he said the unilateral sanctions imposed by the US were endorsed by the EU and it is for this reason that they are seeking the latter's support.

“We are very concerned about our government officials who have been sanctioned by the UN and US,” he said, adding they are implementing peace now and there is no reason for sanctions to remain.

In 2017, the US imposed sanctions on senior South Sudanese officials, including military officers, on the pretext that they were obstructing the peace process.

The existing sanctions and arms embargo are frustrating the government's efforts to implement the peace deal, Deng said.

The UNSC, in July 2018, imposed arms embargo on South Sudan in the wake of renewed violence in July 2016 that collapsed the 2015 peace deal signed to end years of conflict.

The sanctioned officials include Vice President Taban Deng Gai, Presidential Advisor Kuol Manyang Juuk, Cabinet Affairs Minister Martin Elia Lomuro and Information Minister Michael Makuei.