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The South Sudan embassy in Uganda has clarified claims of the alleged kidnap on its citizens living in the country.

It noted on Monday, February 6, 2024, that 15 of their citizens were not kidnapped, but were rather detained by the Police over illegal stay.

The embassy said 14 of those detained have since been released, and that one person is in the process of being released. 

“We wish to clarify it was not a kidnapping case but a normal Police operation to check the immigration status of foreigners,” South Sudan ambassador Simon Juach Deng said, adding: “The lives of South Sudanese are not at risk in Uganda and South Sudanese should feel free and live normal lives in Uganda".

Juach made the remarks during a media briefing at the embassy’s premises in Kampala. The briefing was aimed at addressing claims in sections of the media of the disappearance of 15 South Sudanese nationals last week. 

“We thank the entire Ministry of Internal Affairs, especially minister Kahinda Otafiire and immigration leadership for their co-operation,” he added. 

The ambassador’s revelations follow a video clip that had circulated on X, formerly Twitter, on February 2, alleging a kidnap of South Sudanese students, prompting the embassy’s immigration Chief Brig. Gen. Majok Peter Majok to reach out to the internal affairs ministry. 

It was established that the 15 had indeed been arrested by immigration officials working in conjunction with the Police at the gym near the International University of East Africa (IUEA).

Juach revealed that four South Sudanese were found with refugee ID cards and were released immediately while the other 11 did not have them, which forced Police to take them to their Namanve Industrial area detention facility.

“The immigration chief (Majok) asked the students to request their colleagues at the hostels to send their documents and 10 students out of 11 were found to have valid passports and visas and were released on the same evening. One lady who is a spouse of one of the students was found without valid documents and remained at the detention facility,” he said. 

Juach said going forward, all South Sudanese in Uganda, including students, will be asked to process their documents in time to avoid being caught on the wrong side of the law.

“The Embassy also appeals to all South Sudanese living in Uganda to respect the laws of the host state by validating their visas to legalise their stay,” he said.

Juach, who was flanked by some of the released South Sudanese, said they are also working with government authorities to ensure the embassy is warned of future impending operations to avoid a repeat of February 2, 2024, incidents which resulted in temporary detentions of their citizens.

Uganda is now home to over one million South Sudanese, most of whom are living in the country as refugees following an outbreak of a civil war in their country in 2013.

The development followed a bitter fallout between President Salva Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar, who he accused of masterminding an attempted coup.

However, Juach noted last month that the security situation back home has greatly improved and efforts are underway to organize an election there.

During a presser on January 25 at the embassy, the ambassador urged South Sudanese to voluntarily go back and participate in the election.