TheCable

South Sudan has deported three American journalists over visa issues, a government official said on Tuesday.

Makol Mawien, the country’s foreign affairs ministry spokesman, said the journalists were intercepted on Friday at the Nadapal border in Namurunyang state, Eastern Equatorial.

He, however, did not give their names or the organisations they work for.

He said the foreign journalists crossed the border through Lokichoggio in Kenya, “without acquiring a visa at the South Sudan embassy in Nairobi”.

“They were three American journalists who crossed into the country through Nadapal from Kenya without fulfilling the normal visa requirements in Nairobi,” he was quoted to have said.

“So, they were intercepted and sent back to apply for a visa.”

The ministry spokesman said the three would be allowed entry “if they acquired the visas.”

Recently, the South Sudan media regulator had imposed a ban on about 20 unidentified foreign journalists.

The media regulator later said foreign journalists were free to enter and operate in the country.

Since the outbreak of violence in 2013, its media environment has become a “dangerous” terrain for journalists.

To date, dozens of journalists have reportedly lost their lives while operating in the country.

While some journalists in South Sudan are said to have abandoned their profession, many others have reportedly fled the country.