The US is to revoke all visas for South Sudanese nationals and block new arrivals from the country, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, accusing Juba of not accepting its citizens deported from the US.
Mr Rubio said the South Sudanese government was “taking advantage” of the US, and “every country must accept the return of its citizens in a timely manner when another country, including the United States, seeks to remove them”.
South Sudan is the world's newest nation and also one of the poorest, with fears growing of a return to a civil war that killed 400,000 people between 2013 and 2018.
Last week, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged regional and international leaders to prevent South Sudan from falling “over the abyss” into another conflict.
South Sudanese nationals had previously been granted “temporary protected status” (TPS) by the US government but that status was set to expire on May 3.
TPS shields foreign citizens against deportation who cannot safely return home because of war, natural disasters or other “extraordinary” conditions.
There were about 133 South Sudanese under the programme, with another 140 eligible to apply, the US Department of Homeland Security said in September 2023. But the Trump administration has begun overturning TPS.
Washington's singling out of South Sudan comes after growing numbers of Africans attempted to enter the US through its southern border – an alternative to risky routes into Europe.
Referring to the visa revocations, Mr Rubio said Washington “will be prepared to review these actions when South Sudan is in full co-operation”.
Mediators from the African Union arrived in Juba this week for talks aimed at averting a new civil war after the country's First Vice President Riek Machar was placed under house arrest last week.
The government of South Sudan President Salva Kiir has accused Mr Machar, a long-time rival who led rebel troops during the previous conflict, of trying to stir up a new rebellion.
Mr Machar's detention followed weeks of fighting in the northern Upper Nile state between the military and the White Army militia. Mr Machar's troops were allied with the White Army during the civil war, but deny any current links.
The 2013-18 war was contested largely along ethnic lines, with fighters from the Dinka, the country's largest group, lining up behind Mr Kiir, and those from the Nuer, the second-largest group, supporting Mr Machar.
