South Sudan travellers abroad told to report any passport refusals to directorate

South Sudan's Directorate of Immigration and Passport, Nationality has dismissed claims that South Sudanese passports are being turned away by some Western countries. The head of the directorate, Major General Agustino Madut, said the passport is recognised internationally and can be used in any country.

Key facts

• Who decided: the Directorate of Immigration and Passport, Nationality, and its director, Major General Agustino Madut
• What is disputed: claims that some Western countries reject South Sudanese passports
• Passport types: diplomatic, official, special and ordinary citizen's passports
• Where to report problems: to the Directorate of Immigration and Passport, Nationality
• Date of statement: 23 October 2013

What has been claimed?

An official of a civil society organisation said earlier that South Sudanese passports are being rejected by some Western countries. The same official said South Sudan is not recognised on some online services and is missing from the visa lists of several countries.

The civil society group did not name which countries are said not to recognise South Sudan online. Separately, a Facebook campaign has called for Juba to be removed from listings that show the city as near al-Khartoum on some online sites.

What does the immigration directorate say?

Major General Agustino Madut said the reports are inaccurate, describing them as "false information" and adding that the passport is produced to an international standard. He said the directorate holds a certificate showing recognition by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the body that sets travel document standards.

Madut also said South Sudan has the first such passport in the region and that it is among the best in Africa, comparing it with the documents of Uganda and Kenya. He said only five countries in Africa have an e-passport with a machine-readable document.

What passport types does South Sudan issue?

According to the directorate, South Sudan issues four categories of passport: diplomatic, official, special and the ordinary citizen's passport.

What should travellers do if a passport is refused?

Madut asked travellers who face problems to report them to the directorate. He said a traveller may be stopped at immigration for reasons unrelated to the passport itself, and that a rejection does not necessarily mean there is a problem with the document.

No list of the countries said to reject the passport, and no figures on how many travellers have been affected, were given. The directorate did not announce any new procedure for travellers reporting such cases.