The authorities in Juba say the revocation of visas by the United States for South Sudanese nationals stemmed from a mistake from Washington.
South Sudan’s foreign ministry reacting for the first time about the blanket ban claimed the over was wrongly triggered by mistaking the identity of an individual who was the citizen of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In a statement it said South Sudan refused him entry to the country from the US because he was of a different nationality which meant his country was not obligated to accept him.
The individual in question was returned to the US where his citizenship should be ascertained.
Reacting to this turn of events, Secretary of State Marco Rubio last weekend said the Trump White House was introducing a ban on all South Sudanese visa holders for its alleged refusal to accept its citizens being deported from the United States.
Trump had campaigned on a platform of clamping down on undesirable immigrants and had since his installation has ordered mass deportations of non-US citizens from around the world.
However, the foreign ministry statement issued from Juba on Monday expressed regret over the US decision to punish South Sudan over what it called an isolated incident involving an individual who is not South Sudanese and would not accept someone deemed a foreign national.
However, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau has challenged this assertion saying the Washington embassy of South Sudan had “certified this particular individual as one of their nationals”.
He accused the South Sudanese government of second-guessing the determination of its own embassy.
South Sudanese enjoy Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in the United States but this isdue to run out in May.
Under the TPS, citizens of South Sudan could stay in the country for a given period.
WN/as/APA