Gov’t mulls border closures to curb human trafficking

The Director-General of Civil Registry, Nationality, Passports, and Immigration, Lt. Gen. Atem Marol Biar, has said there are plans to seal all the unofficial border points to curb human trafficking.

Atem said the borders that were previously occupied by the SPLM/A-IO were still open and that they should be sealed as soon as possible to end the vice.

He said open areas of South Sudan’s borders are being used by some foreign nationals to smuggle into the country.

“Borders should be closed because currently most of the borders have open areas where people can sneak inside, especially the borders occupied by SPLM/A-IO,” he said.

Lt Gen Atem revealed that they were also planning to open the Ethiopian border too, adding that Pangak, Raad, and Jageu had been reached so far.

Atem added that they would soon conduct joint training with Ethiopian immigration officers in preparation for opening and sealing the Ethiopian borders.

“We will meet with the Ethiopian Minister of Interior so that we can jointly train officers at Gambella prior to the opening of the border,” he stated.

Joint fight

Last week, the Ethiopian Embassy vowed to cooperate with the government of South Sudan to fight human trafficking.

The embassy spoke after the directorate of the immigration department had caught four Eritreans who were smuggled into the country from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Temesgen Teshale, the public and economic affairs diplomat at the Ethiopian Embassy in Juba, said the two countries must cooperate in kicking out human smuggling across borders.

“With regards to human traffickers, it needs cooperation between two countries: Ethiopia and South Sudan,’’ he said, as he clarified that they were yet to receive any communication regarding the foreign nationals who were found at the airport.

“I think the reason why they didn’t [contact us] is that maybe the victims were not Ethiopians. Whenever such legal issues happen, there is a need for cooperation between Ethiopia and South Sudan because the office and stakeholders should work together in cooperation.”

Case detected

Two weeks ago, the Director for Information and Public Relations at the Directorate of Civil Registry, Nationality, Passports, and Immigration, James Mapuor Acuoth, reported that they had arrested four Eritreans at Juba International Airport.

He said the Eritreans did not have proper documentation and claimed they were smuggled into the aeroplane by some people in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

“Recently, Lt. General Atem Marol Biar went to Kenya and held a meeting with the director generals of immigration and also IOM, so they were concerned about human trafficking in the region,” Acuoth explained.

“They turned up at Juba airport without any proper documents. When asked, they said that some people put them in the aeroplane, and they found themselves here in Juba International Airport. This is a suspicion of human traffickers who are behind this in Addis Ababa.”

He said they were still investigating the incident to ensure that smugglers face the law. Acuoth urged citizens to join the immigration force in the hunt for human traffickers.

 “We have not yet arrested any traffickers, but we are conducting an investigation. There were reports of people who had been trafficked. This is a regional concern, and South Sudan also wants to exert efforts so that this will not happen,” he promised.

“Some people use other people to come and give them full employment. Some people transport people for prostitution purposes. “

He stressed that the permeability of the borders was a challenge that the country must address urgently for the proper protection of citizens, as human trafficking had become a regional concern.

“South Sudan has inherited a very weak border system. People can use the land to come into South Sudan. People can also use planes because they have seen that in the airport, there is nobody who has been prosecuted when he turns up without proper documents, ” Acuoth stressed.

Regional route                                                                                             

The information director said they received one case in 2021, involving two Ugandan sisters who were smuggled to South Sudan but were found without proper documents.

Acuoth said they coordinated with their families until the ladies were returned to Uganda and reunited with their family members.

“And the case we registered last year was two Ugandan sisters. And the South Sudan government is now serious and is stepping up the investigation to flush out all these corners where there is a network, ” Acuoth stated.

On May 18, 2021, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) published a report which showed South Sudan as the “major route” for human trafficking.