South Sudan’s president calls on refugees to return home

By DENG MACHOL
Associated Press

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — South Sudan’s president has urged the country’s more than 2 million refugees to return home in his first meeting with displaced people since civil war erupted almost a decade ago. The appeal comes as the country prepares to hold its first elections since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011. The delayed elections are set to take place in December 2024. South Sudan is still recovering from the five-year civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people and ended in 2018. The president’s meeting came two weeks after Pope Francis met with displaced South Sudanese and appealed for lasting peace.