A prominent South Sudanese activist has fled to the United States with the help of the U.S. government, which issued emergency visas to him and his family after he said South Sudan’s president ordered him abducted or killed.
Peter Biar Ajak arrived in Washington late Thursday after weeks of hiding in Kenya and an anxious departure complicated by coronavirus restrictions.
“The last few weeks have been a bit terrifying. Extremely terrifying,” the 36-year-old activist told The Associated Press shortly after landing. It was only when the plane was taxiing for takeoff that he could feel relief.
Ajak, a Harvard graduate and economist who helped shape his young country’s national security system — one that imprisoned him years later — was tipped off by “very senior” officials back home, his lawyer Jared Genser said.
The emergency visas were “highly, highly, highly unusual,” Genser said, and involved discussions with the State Department, which decided the threat was credible. A State Department spokesperson noted Ajak’s announced arrival and referred all questions on his immigration status to the Department of Homeland Security.