The picture circulated on Facebook and WhatsApp is an edited Namibian dollar banknote.

Writer: Jibi Moses

The specimen of a banknote shared on Facebook and several WhatsApp groups claiming to be a new South Sudanese Pound two hundred (SSP 200) is false. 

The note, mainly covered in purple,  was shared on a purported Bank of South Sudan headed paper. Although there was no description or any other explanation, The note’s main features are Dr.John Garang’s picture, Antelopes, the strips, the governor’s signature, and the serial number, among other features. 

“New Currency. Bank of South Sudan has released a 200 SSP note,” Duany News Network shared on Facebook. Some Facebook posts include one, two, three, and four.

Screenshot of the Edited Banknote, purported to be a new South Sudanese SSP 200 note

Claim Verification: 

A keyword internet search for “Did the Bank of South Sudan release a 200 banknote?” did not return any positive results. This search showed that the latest currency to be released in South Sudan is the South Sudanese Pounds one thousand note (SSP 1000) on Tuesday, February 9, 2021.

211 Check did a reverse image search, and the results showed that this is a Namibian dollar 200 note. Both Yandex and Baidu have pictures of the same 200 Namibian dollar banknote.

Banknote World Educational in 2015 published the note with the caption, “Namibia 200 Namibia Dollars Banknote, 2015, P-15b.” In this publication, they also gave the exchange rate to the US dollar, which stood at $60 then. 

Apart from the picture of Captain Hendrik Witbooi’s face, which was portrayed on the obverse of all Namibian dollar banknotes until March 20, 2012, it is still on all N$50, N$100, and N$200 notes and the Bank of Namibia. The rest of the features are the same as the ones in the picture, which claims to be for the South Sudan 200 New Bank Note. 

A screenshot of the N$ 200 banknote as published on the Banknote World website

Namibian Dollar Bank Notes

According to the Bank of Namibia, there are six denominations (values) of Bank of Namibia notes in circulation: N$10, N$20, N$30, N$50, N$100, and N$200.

The Bank of Namibia officially introduced and issued the first Namibian dollar designs for the 10, 50, and 100 Namibian dollar banknote denominations on September 15, 1993. The 20 and 200 Namibian dollar banknote denominations were introduced in 1996. Although the 20 and 200 Namibia dollar banknotes maintained the same design as the first 10, 50, and 100 Namibia dollar banknotes, they did contain some additional trademarked security features. The 10, 50, and 100 Namibian dollar banknotes were subsequently upgraded to include these features.

South Sudanese Pounds BankNotes

The South Sudanese pound is the currency of the Republic of South Sudan. It is subdivided into 100 piasters. The Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly approved it before secession on July 9, 2011 from Sudan. It was introduced on July 18, 2011, and replaced the Sudanese pound.

Coins and Banknotes: 25 pounds, 25 piasters, 5 piasters, 1 pound, 10 piasters

Banknotes: SSP 1, SSP 5, SSP 10, SSP 20, SSP 25, SSP 50, SSP 100, SSP 500, and SSP 1,000. The latest to be introduced is the SSP 1,000 note on February 9, 2021.

Screenshot of the new banknote published on the Bank of South Sudan website on February 9, 2021

Conclusion:

211 Check has found the claim that the image circulating on Facebook and WhatsApp that the Bank of South Sudan has introduced a new currency, the SSP 200 note, is false; the picture is an edited Namibian dollar N$ 200 banknote. 

To ensure accuracy and transparency, we at 211 Check welcome corrections from our readers. If you spot an error in this article, please request a correction using this form. Our team will review your request and make the necessary corrections immediately, if any.

It’s vital to fight misinformation and disinformation in the media by avoiding fake news. Don’t share content you’re uncertain about. False information can harm and mislead people, risking their lives—Fact-check before sharing. For more details, visit https://211check.org/ or message us on WhatsApp at +211 921 350 435. #FactsMatter

These pictures, allegedly of South Sudanese immigrants, have been online since January 2, 2024, but no publicly available information tells the nationalities of the people in them.

Writer: Jibi Moses

Some images making the rounds on social media claiming to be of South Sudanese immigrants arriving in Italy through Libya are unproven.

The pictures, which accompanied an article by Jonglei TV on March 4, 2024, claimed the pictures were of South Sudanese who had just arrived in Italy after escaping the harsh conditions back home.  

“Desperate Journey. A group of over 50 young South Sudanese have successfully crossed the Mediterranean Sea from Libya to Italy yesterday,” the post partly reads.

A screenshot of the post by Jonglei TV.

Claim Verification:

211 Check verified the images individually to establish whether the pictures depict South Sudanese fleeing the economic conditions back home.

Picture One:

A reverse image search result for the first image showed several instances where the image was used. Several online news outlets used the image in their stories with different headlines, some dating back to January 4, 2024.

InfoMigrants, which describes itself as…  Migrant News is a news website designed to combat misinformation that migrants may fall victim to, whether in their country of origin, on their journey, or in the country where they hope to build a new life. To target the largest possible audience, Migrant News is available in six languages: French, Arabic, English, Dari, Pashto, and Bengali. Published a story on January 4 with the headline, “Nearly 250 migrants arrive on the Canary Islands in one day.”

A screenshot of the picture used by the InfoMigrants newspaper.

Other news agencies that reported on the story are seen here, here, here, and here.

Picture Two and Three:

A reverse image search also shows several articles published with the picture, among other similar ones with different headlines. These ranged from mainstream online publications to social media handles like X (formerly Twitter).  

An X (formerly Twitter) user retweeted a tweet first shared by MSF Sea.

MSF Sea tweeted, “37 people on an overcrowded fibreglass boat were rescued this morning by the #MSF team while on its way to #Bari. They reported being at sea for at least four days. They were really weak & are now receiving medical care on board.”

The screenshot of the pictures used by MSF Sea

Desperate Journeys and Immigrants:

In 2018, the UNHCR, the United Nations agency responsible for refugees, produced a Desperate Journeys report. In this report, they explained the trends of these journeys. In 2018, they observed that the number of immigrants dropped, but this could have been due to reduced rescue missions and changes in the routes in the sea used by the immigrants to avoid being intercepted and brought. This, in the long run, makes many cases go unreported.

“The number of refugees and migrants making the Mediterranean Sea crossing fell in 2018. Still, likely, reductions to search and rescue capacity coupled with an uncoordinated and unpredictable response to disembarkation led to an increased death rate as people continued to flee their countries due to conflict, human rights violations, persecution, and poverty,” UNHCR.

Since then, many immigrants from African countries have been making attempts to illegally enter Europe in a bid to escape the harsh political and economic conditions in their home countries. Unfortunately, many of them don’t make it, as these journeys are not only dangerously long, where some die of hunger, thirst, and dangerous waves in the sea, but also illegal.

The media has a lot of content about these journeys, both positive and negative, and these are some of them: here, here, here, here, here, and here.

The search for better economic prospects drives many African migrations; they believe in better opportunities and living conditions in Europe. 

Conclusion:

211 Check found insufficient information to show that the pictures making the rounds are of South Sudanese immigrants. Besides, the same pictures have been online since January 2, 2024. 

To ensure accuracy and transparency, we at 211 Check welcome corrections from our readers. If you spot an error in this article, please request a correction using this form. Our team will review your request and make the necessary corrections immediately, if any.

It’s vital to fight misinformation and disinformation in the media by avoiding fake news. Don’t share content you’re uncertain about. False information can harm and mislead people, risking their lives—Fact-check before sharing. For more details, visit https://211check.org/ or message us on WhatsApp at +211 921 350 435. #FactsMatter.