A caretaker County Commissioner in Sudan has issued an order expelling South Sudanese from Al-Dhaen locality in East Darfur State.

The order was issued on Sunday and required all South Sudanese to leave the area within 72 hours. This deadline ends today.

The caretaker Commission of Al-Dhaen County in Sudan, Ahmed Mohamed Abu Kalam, says the order for South Sudanese to evacuate aal-Dhaen town is in line with their local government regulations.

In this order seen by Eye Radio, Mr. Ahmed calls on the authorities of Eastern Darfur State to enforce the decision within 72 hours, which end today.

It is not clear how many South Sudanese will be affected by the decision but the order says that anyone who fails to evacuate the area will be punished.

The order comes days after authorities in White Nile directed security personnel to arrest, detain and send South Sudanese away from Kosti town to refugee camps.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Juba has called for an end to such treatment of South Sudanese in the Sudan.

The Spokesperson of the Ministry, Ambassador Mawen Makol, told Eye Radio this morning that these actions by some Sudanese officials might affect relations between the two countries.

“We are asking the government of Sudan to really look into this issue and try to stop harassing people of South Sudan, who are in the cities and the camps,” he said.

“This is not going to leave good relations between the two countries. We are always expecting good relations. So the call is still going to them that they should stop harassing people of South Sudan,” Mawen said.

Many South Sudanese are in Sudan as refugees, while others are students or residents.

According to the UN refugee agency, there are more than 400,000 South Sudanese refugees and asylum seekers in Sudan, fleeing conflict since 2013. Almost a quarter of them are in East Darfur.

The international humanitarian law provides for protection of refugees.