South Sudan on Monday said it will waive visa fees for foreign nationals fleeing conflict across its border with neighboring Sudan.
South Sudan’s Directorate of Civil Registry, Nationality, Passport, and Immigration Director General Atem Marol Biar has directed immigration officers at all border-crossing points with Sudan not to charge visa fees to foreigners.
“On the issue of people coming from Sudan, we have given clear directives in line with international law. People running away from the conflict have to be received well and I have directed officials to allow them without asking for visa payment,” Biar told journalists in South Sudan’s capital, Juba.
He said that foreigners who opt to stay in the country as refugees will be registered by authorities with support from humanitarian agencies.
“What we are doing is a plan. We need to be very careful. Juba is not a refugee camp. When you want somebody to stay in transit there is no problem. You have to indicate the days for staying while you make arrangements,” Biar said.
He said most foreign nationals fleeing conflict in neighboring Sudan are being hosted in Renk County and Paloch areas of Upper Nile State.
South Sudan’s Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management Minister Albino Akol Atak said the country has so far received more than 50,000 people who crossed into the country since the Sudan conflict erupted on April 15, 2023.
UNHCR has warned of a deepening humanitarian crisis, due to the unexpected influx of people into South Sudan, which is already hosting 2.2 million internally displaced people.
The story first appeared in The East African
