South Sudanese authorities have suspended the issuance of nationality certificates and passports due to a significant system breakdown.
The suspension comes amid mounting frustration from citizens who have faced delays and disruptions in obtaining essential travel and identification documents.
The Civil Registry, Nationality, Passport, and Immigration Director, Maj Gen Simon Majur Pabek, announced the halt on Sunday, attributing it to a weeklong printer outage. Gen Majur assured the public that efforts were underway to restore the system.
“I understand that many of our citizens are in urgent need of passports and national identity documents for travel, studies, and medical treatment abroad,” Gen Majur said.
“We apologize for the lack of prior notice and assure the public that the system will be repaired shortly.”
The breakdown has led to a growing backlog of applications, further exacerbating the frustration among South Sudanese. The department has been grappling with systemic issues for years, including financial troubles and disputes with international partners.
“The system failure began last Monday, but we have been facing ongoing challenges, including shortage of passports,” Gen Majur explained.
“The situation is similar to a software issue that requires a complete renewal. We are working with our partners to address the problem.”
In the interim, Gen Majur advised South Sudanese traveling to East African countries to use alternative travel documents available at border points or airports.
“For those traveling to East African countries, you can obtain travel documents at the airport, our office in Kololo, or exit points like Nimule,” he instructed.
The current system outage follows a tumultuous period marked by public protests last month.
Frustrated South Sudanese gathered at the Department of Nationality, Passport, and Immigration in Juba, accusing officials of poor service and dishonesty. One particularly distressing case involved a woman whose 10-year-old child missed crucial surgery in Israel due to the passport delays.
Students have also been affected, with some missing scholarships. The department has previously faced criticism over similar issues, including a shortage of booklets in 2020, tied to unpaid debts to a German printing company. Although services resumed in November 2021 after settling part of the debt, further disputes led to additional disruptions.