South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Simon Deng
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has given green light to the entry of a Congolese national who was mistaken for a South Sudanese national while being deported by U.S. immigration officers.
“In the spirit of the existing friendly relations between South Sudan and the United States, the government of the Republic of South Sudan has decided to grant Mr. Makula Kintu permission to enter the country,” said the ministry on Tuesday in a statement.
The government had initially rejected the Congolese national after he had arrived from the U.S. on April 6, 2025 at Juba International Airport.
“In light of this decision, the government has instructed the relevant authorities at Juba International Airport to facilitate Mr.Kintu’s arrival as early as tomorrow,” it said.
This came after the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio announced last week the revocation of visas for all South Sudanese passport holders, following failure of South Sudan’s transitional government to accept the return of repatriated citizens in a timely manner.
In addition, Rubio said that Washington would also block arriving South Sudanese citizens at U.S. ports of entry.
On Monday, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Apuk Ayuel Mayen, explained that the incident leading to the cancellation of visas, involved the misrepresentation of an individual named Makula Kintu from Democratic Republic of Congo impersonating as Nimeri Garang from South Sudan.
