South Sudan on Thursday said that it was reviewing the recently hiked work permit fees for foreign workers after humanitarian agencies helping those affected by famine decried the increment.
The Spokesman for Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mawien Makol, said in Juba that they were reviewing the work permit fees under an ad-hoc committee set up by the government.
“The government is looking into it. We are still working on it, but there are no concrete details I can give to you now,’’ Makol said.
The Ministry of Labour and Public Service issued a circular on March 2, raising foreign work permit fees from about 300 dollars to 10,000 dollars, prompting harsh criticism that it would disrupt aid delivery to parts of the war-torn country facing famine.
The UN in late February declared famine in Mayendit and Leer counties in the northern Unity state, saying 100,000 people are starving and that a further one million people on the brink.
NAN reports that the UN humanitarian co-ordinator for South Sudan, Eugene Owusu, said that most foreigners working in South Sudan are aid workers, and that increasing work permit fees was unfair since the personnel were delivering assistance to South Sudanese citizens who currently rely on it to survive. (Xinhua/NAN)
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