South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Awan Achiek
Two Kenyan children have been saved from human traffickers in Maruwa County of Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA).
Abraham Kelang, the GPAA minister of information told The Dawn on Wednesday that the two children disappeared last year.
He said they were transported to Juba two weeks ago and handed over to the Kenyan Ambassador to South Sudan.
In December 2023, authorities in GPAA rescued two children trafficked from Kenya and arrested their abductors who included a Kenyan national and a South Sudanese.
“One Kenyan and two children were brought to Juba and we handed them over to the Kenyan Ambassador. It was two weeks ago,” said Kelang.
He disclosed that the embassy is preparing to return the kids together with the abductors to Kenya.
“The response from the Kenyan Embassy is that they appreciate the government of GPAA for what they have done and I think they are preparing to take the criminals and the kids to Kenya,” said Kelang.
On 14 February 2023, security personnel arrested two women on suspicion of stealing and trying to traffic a child in Koda in Dolo Payam of Juba County.
The 6-month-old baby boy was allegedly being taken for ritual sacrifice according to one of the suspects.
On 23 May 2013, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) assisted five children who were victims of human trafficking in South Sudan to return to Uganda.
The national government of South Sudan established a national technical task force to counter trafficking in person and smuggling of migrants in 2019.
