America cancels all visas granted to the citizens of South Sudan

The United States announced on Saturday that it will cancel all visas granted to the citizens of South Sudan, noting that Juba refused to accept the return of its citizens to their homeland.
“Every country must accept the return of its citizens in a timely manner when another country, including the United States, seeks to remove them,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

Cancel all visas

He continued: “Since the transitional government in South Sudan has not fully respected this principle, the US State Department takes immediate measures to cancel all visas granted to holders of the state’s southern Sudan passports and prevent the issuance of more of them to prevent the entry of South Sudan passports to enter the United States.”
Rubio accused the transitional government in Juba of “exploiting” the United States. He added that Washington will be ready to “review these measures when South Sudan cooperates completely.”

The escalating of the political crisis

The state of South Sudan, with a population of about 11 million people, witnessed a brutal civil war after it got its independence from Sudan in 2011.
President Salva Kiir and his opponent formed Vice President Riek Machar formed a joint transitional government in 2020, and it is now about to collapse, with the escalation of the internal political crisis several weeks ago.