Low turnout for S. Sudanese acquiring passports in Uganda
June 11, 2015 (KAMPALA) – Acquiring a South Sudanese passport and national identity card is experincing low turnouts from its citizens currently living in Uganda.
Angeyo Joice Oyun, head of the technical committee in the department for verification in Uganda, acknowledged the low turnout of those showing up for the national documents.
She said most people are unaware about the exercise of issuing passport in Kampala.
“It is just matter of time [and] soon many people will come to process the documents. But as per now, some of them have not yet received information about our office in Kampala,” she added.
Due to the increased passport costs, many South Sudanese in Uganda haveone underground, hoping to avoid detection until a more affordable fee is introduced.
Although the price of passport and national identity card has gone up in Kampala many people including students who have been studies in Uganda has turn down request to acquire the documents, after official costs went higher than it is in the capital, Juba.
John Jal, a student who studies in Kampala, said the low turnout of South Sudanese to access national passport was due to several challenges that they encountered after the crisis that erupted in Juba in mid December, 2013.
He said the devaluation caused by Ugandan shillings against the South Sudanese pound in the market has prevented many from obtaining passports and national identity cards.
“The economic crisis in the country is also contributing to the challenges that South Sudanese are facing here in Uganda. It is very hard for them to access the documents, and that is why they remain in low turnout,” added Jal.
He claimed most people in Kampala were prepared to go to the United Nation High Commission for Refugees to grant them full security while they stay in Uganda.
“There is no use for passport while you have a grantee of UNHCR document to stay in Uganda as refugee. And this is why many people have decided not to go for it. Secondly, the citizens have lost trust on their own government,” stressed Jal.
(ST)