South Sudanese 'statelessness': Khartoum urged to alter policy

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is calling attention to the statelessness of people of South Sudanese origin who are living in Sudan amid human rights abuses, including a lack of religious freedom.

Since South Sudan gained independence two years ago, the Sudanese government has not recognized the citizenship of nearly 500,000 Southerners still living in the north. Meanwhile, Sudan has implemented sharia Islamic law, which harshly impacts Christian Southerners.

"It is a potential recipe for disaster that after more than two years of discussions, half a million Southerners in Sudan remain stateless and vulnerable to severe religious freedom violations," USCIRF chair Katrina Lantos Swett said in a news release July 9. Read more