Sudan declares state of emergency

Khartoum has declared a state of emergency Sunday along its southern border. The Governor of the State Border of the White Nile has ordered 12,000 southerners to leave the country. Some of these southern Sudanese have been living for months in makeshift shelters in Kosti, Khartoum and the southern border, while waiting to leave by barge chartered by IOM to transfer to Southern Sudan on the White Nile. "The presence of Southerners in Kosti threatens the safety and climate for the residents of Kosti," the governor said Youssef al-Chambali, quoted by Suna. They are part of some 350,000 southern Sudanese, according to figures from the Embassy of South Sudan in Khartoum, Sudan who remain after the deadline of 8 April by Khartoum set for departure from the country or regularize their situation.