Sudan’s security force expelled the secretary-general of the Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference and two other religious brothers.
Father Santino Morokomomo Maurino told the Sudan Catholic Radio Network after arriving in Juba from Khartoum April 12 that security officials ordered him to leave the country for undisclosed reasons.
The priest said he was called to National Intelligence and Security Services headquarters in Khartoum where he was briefly detained and given three days to buy an airline ticket. He said he was not given a chance to defend his work at the conference.
Brother Michael Fleury of France and Brother Hossam, an Egyptian, both members of the De La Salle Christian Brothers living in Khartoum, also were expelled, Father Maurino said. The two men had been working with children in the Sudanese capital.
The radio network reported that the brothers had been under surveillance by the Sudanese government.
Father Maurino arrived in Juba just ahead of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who was making his first official visit to newly independent South Sudan. His regime has a long record of actions against non-Muslims and South Sudanese residents working and living in Sudan. – CNS