Why South Sudan Reviews Hiked Foreign Work Permit Fees

 South Sudan said on Thursday that it was reviewing the recently hiked work permit fees for foreign workers after humanitarian agencies helping those affected by famine decried the increment.

The spokesman for ministry of foreign affairs, Mawien Makol, told newsmen in Juba that they were reviewing the work permit fees under an ad-hoc committee set up by government.

"The government is looking into it," Makol told newsmen. "We are still working on it, but there are no concrete details I can give to you now."

The Ministry of Labor and Public Service issued a circular on March 2, raising foreign work permit fees from about 300 U.S. dollars to 10,000 dollars, prompting harsh criticism that it would disrupt aid delivery to parts of the war-torn country facing famine.

The United Nations in late February declared famine in Mayendit and Leer counties in the northern Unity state, saying 100,000 people are starving and that a further 1 million people on the brink.