by Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent
KHARTOUM, SUDAN (Worthy News)-- Thousands of Christians stripped of their citizenship are now being forced out of Sudan in the wake of the South's secession back in January 2011.
Christians have until April 8 to either leave the Islamic northern state, or be treated as foreigners under a regime that is openly hostile to non-Arabs and non-Muslims.
Christians remaining in Sudan after the April deadline may face increased persecution, or forced repatriation; in either case, thousands of refugees to South Sudan will surely trigger a humanitarian crisis.
The Sudanese ultimatum comes as the new state of South Sudan struggles with a food shortage caused by a drought that has ruined its crops. The UN World Food Program estimates that as many as five million people in South Sudan will suffer from malnutrition this year.
Further, South Sudan's resources are already being strained by the arrival of refugees from South Kordofan and the Blue Nile where 185,000 have already fled the latest genocidal campaign of a dictator demanding a purely Arab Islamic state.
"Despite the end of the long civil war and independence of South Sudan, Christians in both nations continue to suffer grievously," said Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Aid. "South Sudan is taking the strain as hundreds of thousands of people flee from President Omar al-Bashir’s ongoing brutal campaign to Islamize and Arabize Sudan completely. Our brothers and sisters need our help and prayers as they are forced to leave their homes and rebuild their lives elsewhere."