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Angry South Sudanese stormed the Nationality, Passport and Immigration Office in Juba on Thursday to express their dissatisfaction with delays in the issuance of travel and identity documents.
Protesters accuse officials of dishonesty and poor service, leading to severe personal and financial losses.
One particularly heartbreaking case involved a woman whose child needed to travel urgently to Israel for medical treatment, but she had been waiting for a passport since May. Although the mother had paid all the fees, the delay meant the child could not receive critical surgery.
“My child is 10 years old and missed the opportunity to go to Israel for surgery because of passport problems,” the woman told Radio Tamazuj.
“We have been sleeping on the street without food and water. What will I do if the medical team comes back and my children can’t go?”
Students have also been affected, with some losing out on scholarships. One student, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed his frustration, saying:
“I will not stay in Juba. I wasted money travelling to Juba and got nothing, and we are losing our scholarships due to the delays. We have submitted letters from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating that we need passports, but they keep dodging us.”
General Simon Majur Pabek, director of the Nationality, Civil Registration, Passports and Immigration Department, attributed the delay to a shortage of passport books. Pabek explained that the expected delivery last week did not materialize and admitted that the department had a backlog of applications dating back to 2012. He urged citizens to be patient while the problem is resolved.
The passport office has experienced delays in the past due to financial difficulties. In 2020, the department was criticized for a similar shortage of passport books due to unpaid debts to a German printing company.
South Sudan had stopped issuing nationality proof ID cards and passports after the German company ceased operations due to an unpaid bill of $6.9 million. Although the government resumed services in November 2021 after paying $3.4 million, another dispute in April last year led to the suspension of booklet distribution again due to an unpaid balance of $1.74 million.
An ongoing financial dispute with the German company coupled with a backlog of cases continues to plague the immigration department, leaving many South Sudanese in a state of uncertainty and frustration.
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