UK urges nationals to leave South Sudan amid rising insecurity

The UK advised its nationals in South Sudan to leave the country if they are able to.

The advisory from the Foreign Office came a day after the number of British embassy staff in the capital, Juba, was temporarily reduced due to the "risk of increased insecurity".

"FCDO advises against all travel to South Sudan due to the risk of armed violence and criminality. If you are in South Sudan and judge it safe to do so, you should leave now," said the Foreign Office.

The embassy remains open in order to carry out essential work, but consular assistance to British nationals is severely limited in the East African country, said the Foreign Office, adding that in-person consular assistance is not available.

Opposition arrests

South Sudan's multiparty unity government has been shaken by the arrest of several leaders from the main opposition party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO).

On Wednesday, Riek Machar Teny, the First Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan, and his wife, Angelina Teny, the Minister of Interior of the Republic of South Sudan, were put under house arrest in Juba.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres expressed concern about "alarming" developments in South Sudan, saying the arrest of the country's vice president brings it closer to civil war.

The Secretary-General (Antonio Guterres) said he was “following with deep concern the alarming situation in South Sudan", UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a news conference on Thursday.

‘Close to conflict’

No reason has been given by the government for Machar’s arrest.

Machar and Kiir are longstanding rivals who entered a power-sharing deal in 2018 which has been gradually unravelling, risking a return of the civil war that killed around 400,000 people in the African nation.

South Sudan president fires two vice-presidents - TRT Afrika

South Sudan is one of the few countries with five vice-presidents, a structure established under the 2018 peace agreement.

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