Returnees fleeing fighting in Sudan board a cargo plane Paloch County on Saturday. | Photo: Sarah Michael.

The national MPs have accused members of organized forces at Paloch airstrip of extorting money from returnees before boarding chartered flights to Juba.

The lawmakers say the move has deprived some returnees of access to chartered flights and rendered them helpless.

The alleged practice of forces extorting money from the returnees was observed by the national parliament.

This came after several reports of senior officers from organized forces being involved in corruption malpractices at the evacuation centres.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Albino Akol Atak confirms the prevalence of such practices.

However, he did not specify the group of the forces reported to have been involved in the vice.

Akol laments, the alleged corruption scandal deprives some returnees of access to flights and renders them helpless.

“It is true the points that are raised by the members of the August House. Some of our organized forces are actually using the situation to benefit from it. In Paloch airport, such practices happen,” said Albino.

“In the airport of Paloch, there are different organized forces that are there. After investigations, we raised this to authorities here in Juba and we managed actually to overcome this,

“This has been happening and we witnessed it. Some of them [organized forces] after a plane is hired, they go and deceive these returnees that this is a commercial flight and they take money from them. In the end, some cannot access the plane”.

In response to the allegations, Defence Minister Chol Thon told members of the August House that the army is not responsible for airports that are managed by the Ministry of Transport.