South Sudan has agreed to admit a man deported from the United States in a bid to ease tensions with Washington, following a sweeping US visa ban targeting all South Sudanese nationals. The move represents a dramatic reversal by Juba after a weekend of escalating diplomatic friction.
The row erupted after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Saturday that all South Sudanese passport holders would be barred from entering the United States. The measure, he said, was in response to South Sudan’s refusal to accept deportees from the US.
The decision marked the first time under President Donald Trump’s renewed administration that Washington imposed a blanket immigration restriction on a specific nationality. Trump, who returned to office in January, had campaigned on a hardline anti-immigration platform.
‘We will be prepared to review these actions when South Sudan is in full cooperation,’ Rubio stated.
Deported man to be accepted in Juba
In a statement released Tuesday, South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would allow entry to the man at the centre of the row, citing ‘the spirit of friendly relations’ with the US. The individual, believed to be a national of the Democratic Republic of Congo, could arrive in Juba as early as Wednesday, the statement added.
The ministry also directed Juba International Airport authorities to facilitate the man’s arrival.
‘South Sudan remains committed to accepting its verified nationals scheduled for deportation,’ the ministry said.
South Sudan had initially argued that the deportation was based on mistaken identity, claiming the individual was wrongly identified as South Sudanese. However, US officials rejected the explanation, saying Juba’s embassy in Washington had certified the individual as a citizen.
US officials reject South Sudan’s clarification
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau dismissed South Sudan’s clarification as ‘legally irrelevant’, saying the certification from its own embassy carried official weight.
‘It is unacceptable and irresponsible for South Sudanese government officials to second guess the determination of their own embassy,’ Landau said.
South Sudan’s Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth accused the US of ‘trying to create conflict where there is none,’ telling the Associated Press that ‘no sovereign nation accepts foreign deportees unless properly verified.’
Tensions rise amid political unrest
The visa standoff comes amid rising instability in South Sudan. The country’s First Vice-President Riek Machar has been placed under house arrest, while President Salva Kiir has accused him of fomenting rebellion.
Fighting has flared in parts of the country, threatening to unravel the fragile 2018 peace agreement that ended five years of civil war. The US recently evacuated non-essential diplomatic staff from South Sudan due to escalating violence.
South Sudanese nationals in the US had previously benefited from Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which shielded them from deportation. That protection was due to expire on May 3, further complicating the situation for hundreds of South Sudanese residents in America.
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