Earlier this month Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) working in the Bentiu Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp woke up to youth demonstrating and demanding to be employed by the agencies. Officials say discussions to resolve the grievances are ongoing.

The youth accused the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), international and national NGOs of hiring foreigners at the expense of the locals. 

John Duer, a youth representative in Unity State, said their demand was genuine and peaceful and he urged the concerned authorities to consider their petition.

“We the youth in Unity State are asking the NGOs working in the state to employ our own since we are qualified to work too.” John Duer said, “We have a lot of youth with masters, bachelors, and diplomas who can work but the NGOs are employing people from other states and people from neighboring countries why not our people who are equally qualified.” 

Yuanis Gatnyang, the chairperson of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) peace and reconciliation commission, said the commission has been persuading the youth to handle the matter peacefully without causing problems to the NGOs working in the camp.

“Yes, it is true that on the 4th of this month the youth wrote a letter to the UNMISS representative here in the camp asking for employment, and when we heard that some youth gave an ultimatum to the staff, we intervened to cool them down. Now we are meeting the UNMISS authorities to try and solve the standoff because some of the staff have remained in their compound for fear of being attacked by the angry youth,” Gatnyang said.

The director-general in the ministry of information, sports, and culture, John Kang, said the youth who are demanding to be employed and writing petitions are not legitimate representatives of the youth of Greater Unity State but few individuals who want to cause insecurity in the state. 

“Yes, we heard that there are youth protesting but those are not the legal youth representatives of Unity State,” Kang said. “Those are just a few people who want to cause problems by accusing the NGOs of not employing them.”

John Kang said the government is carrying out an investigation into the matter and will arrest those who are behind the protests.

Philip Anyang, a senior advocate, told Radio Tamazuj that the move by the youth in Unity state is not the first of its kind and that there have been similar demands by youth in Torit, Jonglei, and Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal and other states across the country. 

“You know the issues of youth demanding employment and giving ultimatums are not new in South Sudan and is a genuine concern which needs government and the NGOs concerned to address,” Anyang wondered, “Why is it that these same issues are being repeated now and then?”

“This is an issue that government has failed to address and my perspective is that let the youth demand for their rights but not by using violent means because it is illegal to give threats and ultimatum to other South Sudanese nationals who have the right to work anywhere in South Sudan despite their ethnicity,” Anyang added.

Philip Anyang urged the government and the NGO forum to look into the laws regarding employment in South Sudan and address the issues before it gets out of hand.