The federal government of South Sudan mentioned on Monday that a person on the centre of a deportation row with the US, which South Sudan refused to permit into the nation on the weekend, is a citizen of neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
South Sudan mentioned the person was a person named Makula Kintu, not Nimeiri Garang, as his paperwork claimed and had been utilizing journey paperwork which weren’t his. “In accordance with our immigration protocols, we returned him to the sending nation for additional processing,” the overseas ministry spokesperson, Apuk Ayuel Mayen, mentioned.
Footage launched by the authorities in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, confirmed a person chatting with immigration authorities at Juba worldwide airport, saying he was born in North Kivu, within the jap DRC. He recognized himself as Kintu and mentioned he had been deported from the US in opposition to his will.
On Sunday, the US introduced that it had revoked the visas of all South Sudanese passport holders in response to the refusal by immigration authorities at Juba worldwide airport to repatriate the person, accusing the east African nation of “benefiting from america”.
Mayen, the overseas ministry spokesperson, mentioned that South Sudan “deeply regrets” the blanket measure in opposition to the entire nation’s residents primarily based on “an remoted incident involving misrepresentation by a person who will not be a South Sudanese nationwide”.
She added that the federal government of South Sudan was open to receiving its residents, whether or not they voluntarily depart the US or are deported, and had maintained open communication with the US, regardless of claims by Washington that it had been rebuffed.
Trump administration officers have mentioned the person’s paperwork had been verified by South Sudan’s embassy in Washington DC and that South Sudan had “violated” its obligation “by refusing to just accept certainly one of their nationals licensed by their very own embassy in Washington and repatriated to their nation”.
In a put up on social media, the US deputy secretary of state, Chris Landau, mentioned: “Particularly, on February 13, 2025, the South Sudanese Embassy issued the person an emergency journey letter certifying his nationality as South Sudanese and giving his date and place of origin (in what’s now South Sudan, which then was a part of Sudan).”
Landau added that it was “unacceptable and irresponsible” for South Sudanese authorities to then reject a call made by their embassy and “so far as we’re involved, the Embassy’s certification is conclusive and the matter is closed”.
Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, mentioned a visa and entry ban for South Sudanese residents would go into quick impact and can be reviewed as soon as South Sudan, within the US authorities’s eyes, started cooperating once more.
Jok Madut Jok, an educational specialising in South Sudan at Syracuse College, in upstate New York, mentioned if the error was made at South Sudan’s Washington embassy, that doesn’t “get the US off the hook for this measure”. “On humanitarian grounds, this must be rolled again as a result of it’s too broad,” he mentioned, including that many individuals trying to return to the US may very well be refugees fleeing battle.
South Sudanese passport holders have loved “momentary protected standing” (TPS) within the US since 2011 which affords them authorized protections in opposition to deportation attributable to instability and combating of their nation of origin. The Division of Homeland Safety believes 133 folks from South Sudan had been on the US TPS programme final yr.
Donald Trump needed to finish TPS throughout his first time period and the US president has tried to take action once more, concentrating on nationals from Nicaragua, Haiti, Venezuela and Cuba.
TPS was renewed for South Sudanese nationals final September however is ready to run out in Could, which comes as South Sudan faces an escalating danger of renewed combating by leaders from its two largest ethnic teams.
South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, gained independence from Sudan in 2011, and has since struggled with armed battle and poverty. Between 2013 and 2018, combating between factions loyal to the present president, Salva Kiir Mayardit, and his vice-president, Riek Machar, killed practically 400,000 folks.
Alexandra Ribe, an immigration legal professional who specialises in humanitarian points, mentioned it’s too early to inform what affect the measure would have on South Sudanese within the US because it was not clear what enforcement motion immigration authorities would take, however described it as “punitive”.
Ribe mentioned the measure would “ship a chill down the spines of nationals from the focused nation who don’t have anything to do with the problem at hand”.
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