The government of South Sudan has warned its citizens living in Sudan against participating in the mass pro-democracy demonstrations taking place in the country’s cities.

The Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ambassador  Edward Hakim, urged South Sudanese in Sudan to remain neutral as a safety measure to protect their lives in Sudanese territory.

At least about 2.3 million South Sudanese, mainly from Unity, Northern and Western Bahr el Ghazal, Warrap, Abyei, and Upper Nile states, fled the country due to conflict or deplorable living conditions. They have been sheltering in the neighbouring countries since the 2013 civil war.

However, since the onset of Sudan’s political turmoil that began in 2019, many South Sudanese have fallen victims, and the latest was an 18-year-old South Sudanese student, Mohamed Salih Kur Lual Kur, who was killed in the 2021 protest.

“In the meantime, we don’t provide any evacuations. For their safety, we advise that they [should] get involved in what is happening there and, secondly, they remain indoors,” Ambassador Edward Hakim said.

Mass protests have continued this week as security organs fire tear gas to disperse thousands of protestors on the streets of Khartoum and Port Sudan demanding an end to military rule following the resignation of Abdalla Hamdok as Prime Minister over the weekend.

Mr Hamdok resigned after a November agreement to share power with leaders of the Military Sovereign Council led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan fell through, causing outrage among Sudanese civilians who want pure civilian rule.

Reports have shown the military responding with a disproportionate force that has claimed hundreds of lives since the outage of Sudan’s longest-serving leader, Omar Hassan Bashir, in 2019.

On Monday, the military council told Sudanese local media that the army was the “nation’s safety valve” and that it would “protect the democratic transition” of Sudan. The move protestors said was still unmet after they brought in Dr Hamdok to lead the country’s transition to democracy.

However, the United Nations and European Union on Tuesday issued a warning to Sudan’s military leaders against naming their prime minister because of human rights violations.

Dr Hamdok, who was ousted on October 25, was reinstated a month later in a deal meant to calm tensions, but he resigned late Sunday amidst political deadlock. Hamdok said he resigned because he failed to strike a balance between the ruling generals and the pro-democracy movement.