MANILA, Philippines – Raising crisis alert level 3, the Philippines advised its nationals in South Sudan on Monday, December 23, to flee the world’s youngest state now facing the threat of civil war.

In a statement, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman Raul Hernandez said alert level 3 entails voluntary repatriation.

Hernandez said Filipinos in South Sudan “are enjoined to seek repatriation assistance from the personnel of our embassy in Kenya or the rapid response team which will depart tonight.”

The DFA also advised Filipinos “to defer travel to South Sudan regardless of purpose.”

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) will soon ban the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to South Sudan, Hernandez added.

Up to 95 OFWs live in South Sudan. Of this number, the spokesman said, 23 have gone to Kenya and 15 have stayed in Uganda.

“Those who are in Kenya are planning to return to the Philippines, while the OFWs now in Uganda intend to stay there until the security situation in the south becomes stable,” Hernandez said.

He added that the Philippines has requested the Ugandan government to allow Filipinos to stay in their territory “in the meantime.” Embassy officials will assist them, he said.

Like other countries

For now, Hernandez said employers will help at least 8 OFWs to flee South Sudan while the Philippine embassy “is trying to book a Manila-bound flight for 5 others.”

The Philippines joined other foreign governments that have evacuated their nationals from South Sudan.

These include the governments of the United Kingdom, Kenya, Lebanon, Uganda, and the United States.

The United States earlier safely evacuated US nationals from Bor, a day after the aborted mission in which 4 US servicemen were wounded.

On Sunday, December 22, US President Barack Obama firmly vowed to take more action in South Sudan if needed amid growing fighting after deploying extra US troops, as the United Nations promised to send more peacekeepers. (READ: Obama raises tone on South Sudan after attack.)

Fighting has gripped South Sudan for a week, after President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of attempting a coup. Machar has denied the claim, and has accused Kiir of carrying out a vicious purge of his rivals.

The clashes have left hundreds dead and sent tens of thousands of people fleeing for protection in UN bases or to safer parts of the country, which only won independence from Sudan in 2011, but remains blighted by ethnic divisions, corruption, and poverty. – with reports from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com