South Sudanese students who graduated from Ethiopia. (Courtesy).

The Ethiopian government has reversed its policy of free renewal of annual residence permits for foreign students, South Sudan’s diplomatic office in the country said, adding that scholars will now bear the 150-US-dollar cost.

South Sudan Embassy in Addis Ababa notified students on government scholarship and those studying in private schools in Ethiopia that they are now responsible for bearing the expenses of obtaining and renewing their residential permits.

“The embassy of South Sudan in Addis Ababa wishes to notify you about the issue of your resident permit. Now a new leadership in Ethiopia Immigration and Citizenship Service refused to do it free of charge for all foreign students,” the statement said.

“We hereby notify you the South Sudanese students that from now onward, you will be responsible for paying the issuance and renewal fees until this issue is resolved.”

Residence identification cards are documents that help South Sudanese and other foreign students to stay legally and study in the Horn of Africa country.

Hundreds of students now risk being stuck in Ethiopia or face deportation due to the cost of residence permits and visas.

Many students have expressed grievances, stating that they will not be able to pay such amount, while calling on the Foreign Affairs and Higher Education authorities in Juba to address the issue.

Martin Amer, a fourth-year student of electrical engineering from Bair Dar University, said the students, many of whom are from poor families back home, are concerned about the new charge.

“There is an abrupt change of policy where students are now asked to pay for the residence IDs. This abrupt change has brought some concerns to students who have stated that they are unable to pay,” Amer said.

“We are also under government scholarship, and we are not supposed to pay anything apart what is in the agreement and that is the flight ticket.”

“If the Ethiopian Immigration is no longer renewing our residence IDs for free, then we appeal to the government of the Republic of South Sudan to pay this fee because we as the students are really having financial challenges.”

Manyang Kongor Ajang, another student studying on government scholarship in the country, said they will not be able to pay the amount due to the economic hardship affecting their parents in South Sudan.

“We are grateful for the chance granted by our government to come and study here. The cost of residence IDs is reasonable, but the question is; where will the student get the money?”

“We know that all students in Ethiopia get financial support from their families in South Sudan. So, given the (economic) crisis, I don’t know how our parents will raise the money.”

Since independence, South Sudan has been cooperating with Ethiopia in the field of education where thousands of students were sponsored to study various courses in Ethiopia.

In November 2022, the two countries signed education agreement to sponsor students particularly in the undergraduate, postgraduate, technical, vocational, and PhD programs.