Students occupy South Sudan Embassy in Cairo - June 2013, demanding unpaid allowances.

South Sudanese students studying under sponsorship there have not received their allowances for more than nine months, the ambassador to Egypt has said.

Ambassador Anthony Kon also says the students sponsored by the South Sudanese government have not received their school fees.

The ambassador says Egypt can offer some South Sudanese student’s free education.

But the government of South Sudan and the families of the students have to pay for the cost of living.

He told the Dawn Show this morning that the embassy paid students more than 41,000 US dollars three months ago to meet their living cost.

The ambassador said the money was raised from visa fees and was to be deducted when the Ministry of Education sends the students allowances.

“I’ve volunteered and I wrote to the office of the President to allow us to use the money that we have here from visas, and give it out to the students because they haven’t received any money from the ministry of Education yet,” Amb Kon said.

He said the school fees and the allowances are yet to be sent to the embassy.