The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said the reception of Mr. Emmanuel Makoi by senior officials at Juba International Airport was a gesture of diplomatic cooperation.
“In a spirit of cooperation between South Sudan and the United States, the Government of the Republic of South Sudan received Mr. Emmanuel Makoi today, who had been deported from the United States,” read the statement.
“It is worth mentioning that Mr. Makoi was warmly received at Juba International Airport by high-level government representatives led by Hon. Amb. Monday Semaya K. Kumba, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation,” stated the ministry.
Mr Semaya was accompanied by the Deputy Minister of Interior, the Director General for Consular Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Director General of Nationality, Passports, and Immigration, and the Director of Interpol.
The reception of Mr. Emmanuel Makoi follows a recent diplomatic standoff between South Sudan and the United States, triggered by the case of another deportee, Makula Kintu, which led to the U.S. revocation of all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders.
On April 5, 2025, Makula Kintu arrived at Juba International Airport from the United States, carrying a South Sudanese travel document under the name Nimeri Garang. South Sudanese immigration authorities, upon verification, determined that Kintu was not a South Sudanese citizen but a national of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), hailing from the Ema tribe in North Kivu Province.
Kintu claimed he was born in the DRC in 1977 and was deported to South Sudan against his will, asserting that his parents were originally from Sudan before South Sudan’s independence in 2011.
South Sudan’s refusal to admit Kintu, citing his Congolese nationality, prompted a swift response from the U.S. government. On April 6, 2025, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the immediate revocation of all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders and a ban on issuing new visas, accusing South Sudan’s transitional government of failing to accept its repatriated citizens in a timely manner.
The U.S. argued that South Sudan’s embassy in Washington had certified Kintu as a South Sudanese citizen on February 13, 2025, and viewed Juba’s rejection as a breach of international norms requiring countries to accept their nationals. This decision was described as the first blanket sanction targeting all passport holders of a specific country under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The visa revocation affected an estimated 2,000 South Sudanese nationals in the U.S., including students, refugees, and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, sparking concerns about their residency status and potential deportations.
South Sudan’s Foreign Ministry criticised the U.S. action as “unfair,” arguing that the incident was an isolated case of misrepresentation involving a non-South Sudanese individual. The ministry clarified that Kintu had entered the U.S. in 2003, voluntarily departed to the DRC in 2009, and re-entered illegally in 2016, further complicating his case.
In a diplomatic U-turn on April 8, 2025, South Sudan reversed its stance and agreed to admit Kintu “in the spirit of the existing friendly relations” with the U.S., with arrangements made for his arrival on April 9, a decision seen as an attempt to de-escalate tensions and potentially prompt the U.S. to reconsider the visa ban.
However, as of the latest reports, the U.S. has not restored the revoked visas, and South Sudan’s embassy in Washington has advised its citizens to avoid international travel until the situation is resolved.
The Makula Kintu case has highlighted challenges in South Sudan’s diplomatic processes, with critics pointing to the need for reform in its foreign missions to avoid such missteps.
The reception of Makoi reflects South Sudan’s ongoing efforts to demonstrate cooperation with the U.S. on repatriation matters, amid hopes of resolving the broader visa revocation issue that continues to impact its citizens.
