South Sudan Accepts Man Deported From US To Settle Visa Dispute — BBC Reports
South Sudan has changed its mind and decided to accept a man the United States deported, even though the country first said he wasn’t one of their citizens.
According to BBC, this decision comes as South Sudan tries to fix a visa disagreement that caused the US to ban all South Sudanese passport holders from entering the country.
Earlier, South Sudan said the deported man was actually from the Democratic Republic of Congo, not South Sudan.
But now, in what BBC describes as a “dramatic U-turn,” the government says it will let the man enter South Sudan “in the spirit of friendly relations.”
BBC reports that the man could land in the capital, Juba, as early as Wednesday. South Sudan’s foreign ministry has told airport authorities to welcome him.
The US took action last weekend after South Sudan refused to accept citizens being sent back home. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that all South Sudanese nationals would be blocked from entering the US. He blamed the South Sudanese government for not cooperating in accepting deported citizens. This is the first time under President Trump’s second term that the US has banned all passport holders from a specific country.
BBC notes that South Sudan had earlier claimed the deportation was a mistake, saying their Washington embassy wrongly identified the man as a citizen. They even returned the man to the US and gave American officials documents showing he was Congolese.
However, the US didn’t accept that explanation. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau told BBC that South Sudan’s own embassy certified the man as South Sudanese, and that the US wouldn’t tolerate the government denying its own embassy’s actions.
This visa row comes at a tough time for South Sudan. According to BBC, tensions are rising in the country as fears grow that civil war might return. President Salva Kiir recently accused Vice President Riek Machar of trying to start another conflict. The US even told its non-emergency workers in South Sudan to leave after fighting started in one part of the country—putting a 2018 peace deal at risk.
Many South Sudanese living in the US had special protection under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which allowed them to stay for some time. But BBC says that protection was due to expire on May 3rd, making the visa issue even more sensitive for many families.
In short, BBC reports that South Sudan’s decision to accept the deported man might help cool down tensions with the US for now—but the story shows how one mistake can affect an entire country’s citizens.
It also highlights how international politics can directly affect everyday people trying to stay safe and settled abroad.
Credit: BBC
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce9281ljxj0o