UN peacekeepers at Juba International Airport in 2014 | Photo | UN

The Parliament has called for the suspension of the UN and all international flights that are entering South Sudan due to coronavirus fears.  

Last week, South Sudan suspended direct flights between the country and countries affected by the coronavirus.

According to the Ministry of health, this was part of an ongoing preparedness to enhance measures to prevent the importation of the coronavirus to the country.

The suspended flights included Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and countries that are affected by the disease.

The chairperson of the information committee at the TNLA, Paul Yoane says that the parliamentarians have demanded the ban of the UN and all international flights that are entering South Sudan due to coronavirus fears.

“Resolution number two is to stop all international flights that are entering the country except Cargos carrying goods to the country. We want these flights to be banned for a while includes UN flights,” said Hon. Yoane.

“If you go to Juba International Airport, the UN terminal is one of the busiest and people are coming from different parts of the world and we are saying please stop it for a while.”

According to the chairperson of the information committee at the TNLA, these flights include:

“We have the Kenyan Airway – the daily flights between Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Juba, we have the Ethiopians Airline between Addis and Juba, and other routes.”

“We have the Sudan Airways, and we have Badr Airlines. We have Targo flights between Khartoum and Juba. We have the Rwanda air coming from different destinations to Juba.”

The parliamentarians announced this during the assembly business committee meeting chaired by the Speaker of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly on Thursday.