The United States will impose visa restrictions on individuals that undermine or obstruct the peace process in South Sudan, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on Thursday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th December, 2019) The United States will impose visa restrictions on individuals that undermine or obstruct the peace process in South Sudan, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on Thursday."As the United States re-evaluates its bilateral relationship with the government of South Sudan, the Department of State will implement visa restrictions under Immigration and Nationality Act Section 212(a)(3)(C) against those who undermine or impede the peace process in South Sudan," the statement said.
Pompeo explained the restrictions may be imposed on individuals who violate the ceasefire and the United Nations arms embargo on South Sudan, suppressing freedoms or engage in corruption that fuels the conflict in the country as well as fail to abide by signed peace agreements.
The visa restrictions could also be applied to the targeted individuals' immediate family members, Pompeo said.
The secretary of state also said the people of South Sudan have suffered enough while their leaders delay the implementation of a sustainable peace and deserve leaders who are committed to building consensus and willing to compromise for the greater good.
Pompeo's warning comes after a meeting of South Sudan's armed opposition groups attempting to salvage a September 2018 power-sharing agreement signed by President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Riek Machar.
After the South Sudanese government and opposition missed the latest deadline to implement the power-sharing agreement on November 7, they agreed to extend the so-called pre-transitional period by 100 days.
For five years, the conflict in South Sudan had pitted supporters of Kiir against those of Machar, with at least 382,900 people killed, according to a recent report by the London school of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine that was commissioned by the State Department and US Institute of Peace.
