After gaining independence in 2011, the world's youngest country has been struggling with violent flare ups.
The situation has led the United Nations to consider bolstering its peacekeeping force in the country.
"No military intervention in South Sudan. We want peace in South Sudan. No more war in South Sudan. We need peace in South Sudan."
Protesters from Victoria's South Sudanese community have rallied in Melbourne's central business district, petitioning against foreign military intervention in South Sudan.
Police say about 50 people were a part of the peaceful protest that started at Melbourne's Federation Square and ended at the steps of Victoria's Parliament House.
The South Sudanese group was protesting a proposed United Nations military intervention in its homeland.
The United Nations already has 12,000 peacekeepers in the country.
However, persistent infighting between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar has led the world body to consider more.
One protester, Angelo Cawuop, says South Sudan is not being treated like an autonomous nation.
"We don't want military intervention in our affairs. Southern Sudan is a sovereign country. The people of Southern Sudan did not get that country very easily. People fought for 21 years, and more than 2 million people died. It's not easy like that for any foreign country to decide that they want to send military forces. Our army is enough to protect the country, and our president is committed to peace."
Protester Aluel Mayath says a large percentage of South Sudanese people do not want UN intervention because of what they have seen in other nations.
"We are seeing what happened in Afghanistan. It's still, to now, people dying -- more people dying than before this happened. It happened also in Iraq, it's the same thing, and still no peace there. We don't want this to happen in South Sudan."
Earlier this month, violence broke out in the streets of the capital Juba, heightening fears of a return to civil war.
The violence left over 200 people dead and displaced a further 8,000 people.
Last week, the African Union decided to send in troops from Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan and Uganda to help bring an end to the unrest.
But protester Antipas Kooc says adding more troops from either the African Union or the United Nations will not bring peace to South Sudan.
"When there is more troops there, it will cause damage to our people -- the raping of innocent people, ladies. And they don't even protect the people."
Two weeks ago, the South Sudanese government introduced a ceasefire in Juba that has curbed the violence.
Mr Kooc says it is evidence his country can recover on its own.
"It has declared a ceasefire and is following the ceasefire. There's no more fighting now in South Sudan. If you go to Juba now, you can walk day and night. No more killing. It just happened for four days, and then it stopped. There's no war."
The South Sudanese government opposes any outside intervention.
But some other South Sudanese groups in Victoria have supported intervention in the country.
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