Fifteen South Sudanese except one who were arrested in Kampala at the weekend for allegedly not having legal travel documents have been released, South Sudan Ambassador to Uganda has said.

Ambassador Simon Juach says the Ugandan Immigration authorities on Friday rounded South Sudanese and other nationalities, arresting them for not having proper identification.

Some media platforms in Uganda had it that the South Sudanese nationals were kidnapped around East Africa University in Kampala.

“On Friday, 2, February 2024, several people were arrested around East Africa University in Kampala, of which 15 of them were South Sudanese. Four were found to have refugee status and the other eleven were traveling on South Sudanese passports,” he said.

Juach says upon the reports, the embassy intervened immediately and 14 were released, leaving one behind.

According to him, eleven of those freed had passports and rest were on refugee’s status.

“With the Embassy’s intervention through the Department of Migration in the embassy, all the remaining eleven South Sudanese were released.”

Diplomat Juach dismissed reports that the individuals were kidnapped while urging the Ugandan authorities to inform the embassy whenever they have arrested any South Sudanese national.

“We want to ensure that South Sudanese are not at risk and that nobody was kidnapped.  These people were detained because they didn’t have proper documentation. But after they provided, the defecation, they were released,”  he added.

Meanwhile, the Ambassador appealed to South Sudanese in Uganda to regularize their stay to avoid being questioned by the authorities.

Ambassador Juach also called on the South Sudanese to reach out to the embassy in case of emergency.