The Trump administration’s revocation of all visas held by South Sudanese nationals comes as the East African nation faces the threat of renewed war.
The Trump administration’s decision over the weekend to revoke visas for all South Sudanese passport holders has added to the mounting political and humanitarian challenges of a country on the brink of civil war, officials and observers said on Monday.
Tensions between the two political leaders of South Sudan have escalated in recent weeks, especially after the authorities put the vice president under house arrest in late March. Millions of people are also facing hunger, displacement and disease as violence intensifies and the United States cuts aid.
Observers say the sweeping visa ban shows how Washington is retreating from South Sudan — a nation the United States helped bring into existence nearly 15 years ago — at a time of immense need.
“A massive storm is forming over South Sudan, and the visa ban only adds to the anxiety people have about all that could go wrong,” said Daniel Akech, the senior South Sudan analyst at the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit organization.
On Saturday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was revoking visas for South Sudanese nationals and preventing any more from entering the United States. The deputy secretary of state, Christopher Landau, said on social media that South Sudan had refused to accept the repatriation of one of its nationals.
The Trump administration has not said whether it would seek to deport South Sudanese nationals whose visas had been revoked. South Sudan’s government has not responded to the announcement of the visa ban, and a government spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.
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