Citizenship in South Sudan is governed by the Transitional Constitution of 2011, the Nationality Act 2011 and the Nationality Regulations 2011, all adopted following the country’s secession from Sudan the same year to become an independent country. The legislation grants nationality automatically to a wide range of people born before or after the secession of South Sudan on the basis that any parent, grandparent or great-grandparent was born in South Sudan, or that the person is a member of an “indigenous ethnic community” of South Sudan. In addition, a person is considered South Sudanese by birth if, on the date of secession of South Sudan, he or she, or his or her parents or grandparents had been domiciled in South Sudan since 1956 (the date of independence of Sudan).
However, the broad application of the law has the potential to damage the rights of certain persons when read in conjunction with the new legislation in Sudan which prohibits dual nationality with South Sudan, making it possible for the government of Sudan to argue that persons of South Sudanese ancestry remaining in the north have lost their previously held Sudanese nationality. In 2012, the governments of Sudan and South Sudan negotiated a Framework Agreement offering reciprocal rights to the citizens of one in the other. It is unclear, however, to what extent the agreement will be implemented. The capacity of South Sudan to offer documentation and consular support to its presumed citizens in Sudan is limited.
By Michael Gyan Nyarko On August 2, 2025, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights communicated its landmark decision in Afekuru Animu Risasi Amitai v Republic of South Sudan. The Commission found that South Sudan had arbitrarily deprived Ms […]
A civil society activist has called on the Government of South Sudan to provide free nationality identification cards to rural communities ahead of the country’s December 2026 general elections. Wodcan Saviour, the Executive Director of Support Peace Initiative Development Organization […]
By Memoscar Lasuba The Government of South Sudan is preparing to overhaul its civil registration system by introducing a nationwide digital registry that will transfer the issuance of birth certificates from hospitals to the Directorate of Civil Registry, Nationality, Passports […]
South Sudan’s identification ecosystem remains severely underdeveloped, limiting individuals’ access to services, economic opportunities, and formal participation. An estimated 90 percent of the population lacks identification, creating barriers to financial inclusion, education, and employment, while undermining service delivery efficiency and […]
Synopsis Nearly 90% of people in South Sudan lack government-recognized ID, limiting access to jobs, aid, finance, and services. The World Bank’s new ID4D diagnostic shows how stronger civil registration and digital ID systems could expand inclusion, protect vulnerable groups, […]
Banjul, The Gambia — 14th May 2026 — The Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) today submitted a status of implementation report to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), highlighting the continued failure of […]
Reportage · Il y a bientôt quinze ans, le Soudan du Sud proclamait son indépendance. Depuis, l’administration tarde à régulariser ses ressortissants : selon le HCR, 90 % des Sud-Soudanais ne seraient pas encore enregistrés sur les bases de données […]
By Gift Friday Noah in Juba In 2016, deadly conflict reached Wau town, north-western South Sudan, where 49-year-old pharmacist Michael Angelo Ufo and his family had called home for years, forcing them to flee to White Nile State in Sudan […]
By Jedi Ramalapa There is a quiet kind of violence that states are particularly good at. It does not arrive with spectacle. It comes through paperwork. Through silence. Through the slow, bureaucratic unmaking of a life. In 2018, that violence […]
Seven leading organisations fighting to end statelessness and advancing gender equal nationality rights globally and in Africa expressed serious concern today about the case of Ms. Animu A. Risasi, a former South Sudanese Member of Parliament who was arbitrarily stripped […]
A former South Sudanese lawmaker has called on the government to restore her nationality documents, months after the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights ruled that she was arbitrarily deprived of her South Sudanese citizenship and ordered the state […]
The demand emerged during constitution-making dialogues that engaged more than 1,200 individuals and community groups across the state, according to the head of the consultation team, Simon Gatluak. JUBA – Citizens in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State have called for […]