South Sudan deports 20 Eritrean, Ethiopian migrants despite civil society opposition

JUBA — South Sudan government on Wednesday morning deported 20 Eritrean and Ethiopian immigrants who the government said entered the country illegally, despite calls from the civil society to reconsider the measure.

The foreign nationals were arrested on arrival at Juba International Airport a few days ago and were said to have entered the country without passports or travel documents.

The migrants had come from Sudan’s capital Khartoum to seek refuge in South Sudan and had boarded local flights to Juba from Bentiu and Paloch towns in northern South Sudan.

Lt. General Atem Marol Biar, the head of the Directorate of Nationality, Passports, and Immigration, said they have deported foreign nationals to where they came from.

“There are about 20 foreign nationals and they are already deported,” General Biar said during a press conference held in Juba on Wednesday afternoon.

He said they were arrested as they had neither traveling documents nor did they have connections with any organization operating in South Sudan.

“If we continue allowing people without documents to enter into the country then South Sudan will become a center for criminality and terrorism,” he said.

“I want to inform our people that what we are doing is for the safety of both the foreigners and the people of South Sudan,” he added.

South Sudan is a destination for many migrants who come to do business in the oil-producing East African nation.

But it finds it difficult to control the influx of illegal migrants due to its porous borders.