By William Madouk Garang
The Directorate of Passports and Immigration Department on Wednesday said they have deported 20 Ethiopian and Eritrean migrants who entered South Sudan illegally.
The foreign nationals were reported to have travelled from Paloch in Upper Nile State all the way to Juba, and 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 they have deported foreign nationals as agreed by East African region.
“The number was about 20 foreign nationals and they are already deported,” Biar said during a press conference in Juba yesterday.
“Region agreed to fight human trafficking [and] – the only way people fight human trafficking is to identify those moving without documents, capture and send them back to where they come from,” he continued.
He has directed immigration police officers at the airport to be vigilant and not admit any foreign nationals with no valid documents.
“If we continue allowing people without documents to enter into the country how will we know if they are criminals or not – if they kill someone who is going to be blamed,” Atem questioned.
According to Gen. Biar, South Sudan does not reject foreigners as long as they have legal papers.
“Those who have legal document we don’t have problem with them but if we allow people with no legal documents to enter into the country then South Sudan will become a centre for criminality and terrorism,” he stressed.
“Let people give us a chance of what we are doing because it’s for the benefit of the region and the people of South Sudan. There is no country that you are allowed to enter without legal papers,” he added.