Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The Directorate of Passports and Immigration Department and the Ministry of Interior are mulling the deportation of Ethiopians and Eritreans who were arrested for being in the country illegally.
The foreign nationals are reported to have travelled from Paloch in Upper Nile State all the way to Juba, where they were arrested at the Juba International Airport.
The Director-General of Civil Registry, Nationality, Passport, and Immigration, Lt. Gen. Atem Marol Biar, revealed that the individuals would be deported to their countries of origin today.
The immigration boss said the foreign nationals were detained on a flight from Paloch to Juba International Airport and another group that came from Bentiu, Unity State, was also detained.
“We received 13 people from Bentiu who were forced into the plane by those who were there.” We have also decided that the directorate will deport them in the coming week and we’ll plan their deportation to where they came from,” he said.
He has directed police immigration officers at the airport to be vigilant and not admit any foreign nationals with no valid documents. He said such officers would bear the cost of deporting the foreign nationals in that event.
“We cannot continue to receive people who do not have documents but are from different countries, as this will make our country a risky country,” he said.
“We don’t know why these people don’t have documents, and anyone who doesn’t possess documents from his native country is not a good person.” By the way, if the person is a good person, he should be given travel documents from his country,” he warned.
According to Mr. Biar, South Sudan does not reject foreigners as long as they have legal papers.
However, it remains unclear whether the suspects were forcefully put on a plane illegally or whether it was out of their own will. He said the officers would try and establish the reasons for their travelling to South Sudan and would involve the embassies of Ethiopia and Eritrea.
He urged the country’s security organs to protect the nation and not accept bribes from foreigners plotting illegal entry into the country.
Seeking ‘better alternative’
Speaking to The City Review, one of the suspects, Beryl (not her real name), said she chose to leave her country and cross into South Sudan to find ‘‘a better life.’’
“I came from Khartoum, Sudan, but originally I am an Eritrean citizen. I came to Sudan and I tried to get a refugee card, but because of the conditions in Sudan; it was not possible. “I decided to come here and now this thing has happened,” she explained.
She said they had to beg for financial help from various people to finance their journey all the way to Juba.
“You just ask for money from different people and that is how we managed to reach South Sudan. We walked for some of the distance,” she recalled.
‘‘We are hoping for assistance from anyone who can assist us here in South Sudan, but we were unable to respond to some questions.’’
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