The government of Egypt has waived all outstanding residence permit arrears for South Sudanese nationals living in the country.
The Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, exempted South Sudanese in Egypt from paying fines for not renewing their residence permits.
It is not yet clear how many South Sudanese living in Egypt have not renewed their immigration papers, but the Egyptian government said that those who had not complied were exempted from penalties.
However, the same government gave an ultimatum of six months for South Sudanese residing in Egypt to renew their residence permits, adding that failure to do so would require one to pay a three-month fine of $66 or be compelled to pay $40 every three months.
“South Sudanese who have been living in Egypt for a long time without renewing residence permits regardless of the accumulative residence renewal starting from 3/4/2022 can go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to renew their residence permit,” the notice said.
The Egyptian government further authorised the immigration office to cancel all fines and renew the residence permits of the South Sudanese living in Egypt.
When contacted for comment, the spokesperson in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ambassador Ambrose Raphael Tamania Hirifugo, said the government of South Sudan had not received any communication from the South Sudan Embassy in Cairo, even from the Egyptian Consulate in Juba.
He refused to make a statement about information that had not been officially communicated to them.
