Diplomatic blow to South Sudan: Why US revoking all visas and blocking new entry for citizens from African country?

On Saturday, the US said it would revoke South Sudanese passport holders' visas over their failure to accept the return of its repatriated citizens amid fears in Africa that country could return to civil war. US Secretary of State Marco Rabio said South Sudan's transitional government should “stop taking advantage of the United States”.

While taking the measures to increase immigration enforcement, comprising the repatriation of people considered to be in the US illegally, Trump administration admonished that countries that do not promptly take back their citizens will face consequences consisting of tariffs or visa sanctions.

Its measures have been deploying thousands of active-duty troops and National Guardsmen to the US-Mexico border, conducting mass deportations of individuals with alleged gang affiliations. Its singling out of South Sudan follows numbers of Africans seeking to enter the US via its southern border, an alternative to risky routes into Europe.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on South Sudan

South Sudan didn't comply the principle that every country must promptly accept the return of its citizens when requested by another nation, including the US, Marco Rabio, Secretary of State said, adding, ""Effective immediately, the United States Department of State is taking actions to revoke all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders and prevent further issuance to prevent entry into the United States by South Sudanese passport holders. We will be prepared to review these actions when South Sudan is in full cooperation."

Meanwhile, African Union mediators reached South Sudan's capital Juba this week for discussions focussing on preventing a new civil war in the country after its first vice president Riek Machar was put under house arrest last week. South Sudan President Salva Kiir's government has blamed Machar, a longtime rival who headed rebel forces during a 2013-18 war that saw loss of lives hundreds of thousands, of seeking to stir up a new rebellion.

Machar's detention comes after weeks of fighting in the northern Upper Nile state between the military and the White Army militia. Machar's forces were allied with the White Army during the civil war but refuse any current links. The 2013-18 war was set largely along ethnic lines, with fighters from the Dinka, the country's largest group, lining up behind Kiir, and those from the Nuer, the second-largest group, backing Machar.

(With inputs from Reuters)