Over one hundred United Nations workers were recently denied entry or deported at the Juba International Airport due to new regulations issued by the Directorate of Immigration, sources tell Radio Tamazuj.
South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said last Thursday that it has decided to apply new immigration procedures to all personnel of the UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) entering the country.
A source told Radio Tamazuj that the UN workers arrived at Juba Airport but were were prevented from getting visa. Other U.N. workers say that immigration officials at the Juba International Airport have kept their passports.
The new regulations “is a clear violation of the spirit and intent of the Status of Forces Agreement” Shantal Persaud, a spokesperson for the United Nations Mission in South Sudan told Radio Tamazuj over email. “These new rules apply only to UNMISS and UN agency personnel and not to all internationals”
Persaud said that four UNMISS personnel were deported this weekend, and pointed out that the peace agreement states that “The Government undertakes to facilitate the entry into and departure from South Sudan, without delay or hindrance, of the Special Representative and members of UNMISS as well as from payment of any fees or charges on entering into or departing from South Sudan”
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