The Ministry of Labor and Public Service has issued a stern warning to foreign nationals working in the country without a proper work permit.

In a circular seen by Eye Radio, the government says it has noted with concern that many foreign nationals are working in the country without obtaining legitimate documents.

It stresses that this makes it impossible to streamline the status of these nationals.

The ministry directed all alien employers and workers in the private or public sector to process their work permits as soon as possible.

It warned that those who fail to comply will be subjected to legal action.

The letter undersigned by the Undersecretary for Labor and Industrial Relations did not, however, specify what sort of legal action will be taken against defaulters.

But it threatened to reprimand both the employers and employees evading the directive.

“If you move to the private sector like the companies and various commercial enterprises most of the violation, I can say, is from that sector,” Mary Hillary Wani, the undersecretary in the ministry of labor, public service and human resource development, confirmed the issuance of the directive.

“But at least for the NGOs, the majority of them, if there are any violations they are minimum from the side of the NGOs.”

There are reportedly hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals working in South Sudan, both in the public and private sector.

Most of them come from the region, including Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Ethiopia.