Sudan’s minister of social affairs Amira Fadil announced today that the operation to begin transporting South Sudanese returnees stranded at Kosti which was planned to start today, has been postponed to Monday.

Amira Fadil told Zoal TV that a technical error at the International Organisation for Migration caused the delay, as it failed to provide pilots in time that were willing to fly eight hours non-stop, leading to a rearranging of the travel schedule.

She also said that Khartoum will not be transporting any other group of returnees to Kosti unless it is confirmed that planes are available to transport them to Juba.

She added that the director of IOM has acknowledged the delay and apologized for the error.