South Sudanese Pastor deported from Sudan for evangelizing

Jardine Malado Friday, January 20, 2017

Holy Cross Catholic Church in Yirol, Lakes State, South Sudan. | Wikimedia Commons/Ernst Ulz

A South Sudanese pastor has been ordered to leave Sudan last month because of his evangelistic and church activities.

On Dec. 6, Pastor Koat Akot of the Sudan Pentecostal Church was told by Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) to leave the country within 72 hours, according to Morning Star News. The official said that he was not wanted in the country because of his church activities.

Akot, who has established three churches in the Khartoum/Omdurman area, left the country under pressure on Dec. 9.

The church leader was initially detained on Nov. 18 when the NISS authorities learned that he was leading worship services. After detaining and questioning the pastor, the authorities ordered him to report to their offices daily for three weeks.

During the interrogation, the NISS officials accused him of working for Non-Governmental Organizations and ordered him to reveal the sources of his financial support.

"I told them I was not working for foreign NGOS," said Akot. He added that the officials showed him a list of Christians and churches that were being monitored in an attempt to bully him. His laptop, digital camera and smartphone were confiscated by the officials.

According to the U.S. State Department's 2015 International Religious Freedom Report, Sudanese law does not explicitly prohibit proselytizing, but the criminal code criminalizes acts that encourage Muslims to leave Islam.

Akot insisted that he entered Sudan legally with a valid passport. South Sudanese people are still allowed to live in Sudan, following the secession in 2011. Apart from those who chose to remain, some have fled to Sudan after the eruption of South Sudan's civil war in 2013 and 2016.

Many foreign Christians have been expelled from Sudan since 2012. The government has bulldozed church buildings based on the pretext that they belonged to South Sudanese people. The authorities have also threatened to kill South Sudanese Christians who refused to leave or cooperate with them in their efforts to find other Christians.

Sudan has been designated as a Country of Particular Concern by the U.S. State Department since 1999 due to its treatment of Christians and human rights violations. It is currently ranked as the fifth most difficult country to live as a Christian in the Open Doors World Watch List.