Guidance

South Sudan: bereavement information

Updated 22 June 2023

South Sudan: bereavement information

Introduction

When a relative or friend dies abroad, the different procedures, laws or language can cause additional distress. You may be uncertain about what to do or who to contact.

This country specific information is designed to help you through some of the practical arrangements you may need to make. It supplements the general information on death abroad at http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coping-with-death-abroad produced by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, which applies to all countries.

Please note, as each country has its own laws and customs when a death occurs, it may not be possible to make the arrangements that you prefer, or at the time you would like.

How to contact the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

There is a lot of information below, but you may have questions. You can speak to someone by phone 24/7, any day of the year by contacting the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in London on 0207 008 5000.

If you are not in the UK, you can find the contact details of the nearest British embassy, high commission or consulate at https://www.gov.uk/world/embassies.

The priority of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office is to provide assistance to British nationals overseas who need the most help. The level and type of assistance they can offer is tailored to the individual circumstances of each case.

Next of kin

The next of kin of the person who died will usually need to make decisions and practical arrangements. The next of kin can sometimes appoint another person to act on their behalf.

If you are not the next of kin, they will need to be informed. If required, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office can help you do this.

There is no legal definition of next of kin in the UK. Please note that if there is a disagreement over who is the next of kin, or the person who died did not choose a next of kin, this can cause additional complications.

There is also no legal definition of next of kin in South Sudan. However, a living spouse, a child, a parent, or an adult with sufficient relationship to the deceased (in that order), will be recognized by the authorities. Same sex partners or spouses are not recognised in South Sudan.

When someone dies in South Sudan and the next of kin is in the UK or abroad, South Sudanese authorities normally notify the British Embassy or the person’s employer if they were employed.

Release of information to next of kin

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office will try to obtain as much information as possible after your relative or friend has died abroad. Some of this may be only available to next of kin. Consular officers may be able to obtain this themselves, or they may put you in touch directly with the authorities overseas. They may be able to provide you with details of others who can advocate on your behalf such as lawyers, charities, or other organisations.

Local authorities have the ability to make international calls to inform next of kin of developments, but in most cases they prefer to communicate through the British Embassy or the person’s employer.

In case of a natural death and where the local authorities are satisfied as to the identity of the next of kin, all confirmed information that relates to the deceased will be released to the next of kin.

In the case of a suspicious death, information may be withheld where such release may prejudice any investigation by the police. Such withheld information may be released to the next of kin after the conclusion of any investigation. In some cases the next of kin may have to request this information through a legal representative.

Insurance

It is very important to check if the person who died had insurance. If they had insurance, contact the insurance company as soon as possible. They may have a list of approved funeral directors to help you make arrangements, or be able to cover some of the costs.

If the person who died did not have insurance, the next of kin will usually have to appoint a funeral director and also be responsible for all costs. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office cannot help with these costs.

If you are resident in the UK, you may be able to apply for a Funeral Payment if you have difficulty paying for the funeral.

Appointing a funeral director

If you decide to bring the deceased to the UK for the funeral or cremation, you may only need to appoint an international funeral director. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office produces a list of international funeral directors based in the UK at http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-funeral-directors-in-the-uk.

The funeral director can assist in navigating the local system and liaising between the family, the authorities (including the police and the coroner), international funeral homes (if repatriation is the choice of the family), the airlines and any other local logistical matters. They will normally ensure that all necessary requirements are met in South Sudan and in the country of repatriation. They are also equipped with special caskets to carry out repatriation procedures for the international carriage of a deceased person.

There are no licensing requirements for funeral directors in South Sudan, and standards are a lot lower than in the UK.

Registering the death and obtaining a death certificate

You will need to register the death with the local authorities in the country where the person died. Sometimes a funeral director can do this for you, but only if they act in the capacity of a family representative. You will usually need documents about you and the person who has died, which include information such as full name, date of birth and passport number.

The local authorities will need to be told if the person suffered from an infectious condition such as hepatitis or HIV so they can take precautions against infection.

You do not need to register the death with the UK authorities. The local death certificate can usually be used in the UK for most purposes, including probate. If it is not in English, you will need to obtain and pay for an official translation.

The South Sudanese authorities (Ministry of Health) will issue a death certificate and burial permit in English which will also indicate the cause of death. There is no set time scale in which the authorities have to issue a death certificate, but it generally takes a few working days.

A family representative can register a death and the Embassy is always available to help where possible if they experience any challenges. All deaths must be certified by a senior medical officer at Juba Teaching Hospital after receiving a medical report from the attending doctor or a post mortem report as the case may be. This must be done before a death certificate is issued.

In the event of sudden or unexplained death at home and murder cases, the police will be notified. The police will visit the scene of the death and register the case, taking statements of witness, friends or relatives present and take the deceased to the local hospital mortuary. The Police will also request for a post mortem report detailing the cause of the death. In such cases the local authorities may be reluctant to issue a death certificate until receipt of evidence of toxicology or any other evidential information such as a health report from the decedent’s own physician.

The original death certificate will be issued to a relative and one copy retained by the hospital. If the family are not present in South Sudan, this copy is normally affixed to the coffin during repatriation.

If your loved one is buried locally in South Sudan, the death certificate will be given to the next of kin if present or sent to the family through DHL at a cost which is normally met by the family. Our Embassy will be able to send it if you wish.

You can sometimes apply for a consular death registration. This is not mandatory and cannot be used instead of a death certificate from the country where the person died. If you wish to do this, you can find more information on registering a death and apply online.

Post mortem examinations (autopsies)

Post-mortems are discretionary, based on the nature of the death and are carried out at the Juba Teaching Hospital. If the deceased died in hospital of a known medical condition, it is likely no post-mortem will be required, but any suspicious or unexplained death may warrant a post-mortem in which case the request will be made by police and the pathologist will often request medical records of the deceased.

During a post-mortem, small tissue samples or organs may be removed and retained for testing, including toxicological studies, at the discretion of the doctor. You will not automatically be told if this happens and it can happen without the consent of the next of kin. Occasionally (for example if further investigation is required to establish the cause of death), these samples may not be returned. If this is the case, it would be mentioned in the autopsy report.

Once completed, post-mortem reports are produced in triplicate for the police, family and for the hospital. Please note that when the post-mortem is requested by the police, the British Embassy is unable to intervene.

Autopsies and embalming (required for international transport of the deceased) will be conducted by a private pathologist at Juba Teaching Hospital. The costs must be met by the next of kin. The pathologist will then write and sign the death certificate, certificate of embalming and certificate of non-infectiousness.

Any post-mortem report will be made available to the family upon completion of the investigation. In some cases, in order to have access to the report, you may have to make a request through a local legal representative.

Mortuary facilities

The availability of mortuary professionals in South Sudan is extremely limited. Services and the expertise necessary to prepare a loved one to be moved to another country are generally only available in Juba, the state capital.

If someone dies outside of Juba, because of local conditions and the natural processes which occur after someone dies, it is unlikely that they will be able to be moved outside of South Sudan. Because of the lack of proper mortuary facilities, prompt arrangements for burial are required soon after death.

South Sudan has one refrigerated mortuary, operated by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) that meets basic health and sanitation requirements. Space at this mortuary is limited and is only guaranteed for employees of the UN and its agencies. Members of the public may be able to use the UNMISS facility on an ad-hoc and as-available basis. Use of UNMISS facilities are free of any costs but UNMISS ask that funeral/repatriation arrangements are made as soon as possible due to limited space in the facility.

Public mortuary facilities are basic and are not of a similar standard to the UK. Storage costs will be met by the next of kin.

Burial, cremation, repatriation

The next of kin of the person will usually need to decide between a local burial, cremation or bringing the person home, which is known as repatriation. Your funeral director will usually be able to explain the options available, the costs, and help you make arrangements.

Cremation is not available in South Sudan, however, foreign nationals can be buried.

There is no law limiting the time in which a burial must take place, but the scarcity of refrigerated storage facilities dictates that burial takes place as quickly as possible. If your loved one died out of the capital Juba, in-country transportation may be difficult and expensive due to the poor transport network. The use of a charter flight may be required to transport the deceased to a different part of the country.

Your funeral director can help to acquire the burial permit and also seek authority to bury in the government cemetery. All the cemeteries in South Sudan belong to the relevant City Council. Space is scarce and a fee will be charged for burial.

If private funds are not forthcoming or a next of kin cannot be identified within a certain period, the local mortuary will look to undertake a pauper’s burial on behalf of the state.

If you choose to repatriate your loved one back to the UK the funeral director can assist in navigating the local system and liaising between the family, the authorities (including the police and the coroner), international funeral homes, the airlines and any other local logistical matters.

The process of obtaining the correct paperwork to allow your loved one to be repatriated can be complicated and lengthy. Our Embassy will do everything they can to assist you or the funeral director with the paperwork required to allow repatriation, subject to restrictions on their movement due to the security situation in South Sudan.

There are no national or local South Sudanese laws governing the size or material used for caskets and containers, however caskets suitable for international air travel are not available in Juba and have to be imported from neighbouring countries such as Kenya.

In certain circumstances, immediate burial or repatriation may not always be possible. For example, an autopsy might be performed to ascertain the cause of death and the local authorities may be unable to release the body of the deceased until the autopsy report has been completed.

Please note if a local burial or cremation takes place, then an inquest in the UK will not be possible. For more information on inquests, see the information on UK coroners and inquests.

Return of personal belongings

Unless required by the police as part of an investigation, personal effects are normally returned to next of kin or authorised representatives without formalities.

Personal belongings found on the deceased at the time of death are either handed over to the family, if they are present, or taken by the police. If the next of kin chooses repatriation, it is advisable to instruct the funeral director to collect the belongings from the police and to ship them together with the body or in advance.

If the person who died had insurance, check with the insurance company if this covers the return of their personal belongings.

Please note, the British Embassy cannot take responsibility for the personal belongings of the person who died.

Steps to take in the UK

You can find more information on the steps to take in the UK online. This includes information on arranging the funeral, telling the government about the death, UK pensions and benefits, and dealing with the estate of the person who died. There is a step-by-step guide about what to do when someone dies.

British passport cancellation

In order to avoid identity fraud, the passport of the person who died should be cancelled with His Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO). To do this, you will need to complete a “D1 form”.

The form and instructions on where to send the passport is available online at http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/what-to-do-with-a-passport-when-the-passport-holder-has-died.

If you plan to repatriate the person who died to the UK, you may require their passport to do this. In these circumstances, you should cancel the passport after they have been repatriated.

Child deaths

Police in South Sudan will hold a full investigation into any death, other than those of natural causes; there are no separate procedures for deaths involving children.

Deaths in road traffic accidents

Police in South Sudan will hold a full investigation into any death, other than those of natural causes; there are no separate procedures for deaths resulting from road traffic accidents.

Deaths investigated as murder or manslaughter

If the local police have confirmed that they are investigating the death as a murder or manslaughter a dedicated team within the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office will be available to provide support, including by referring you to a specialised organisation. You can find more about how the FCDO can help with murder and manslaughter abroad at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/helping-british-people-abroad-murder-and-manslaughter.

You should note that if the deceased is repatriated to parts of the UK a coroner or procurator fiscal may decide to hold an inquest. See the section on UK Coroners and inquests below.

If a death is regarded as suspicious, the Police will usually conduct investigations and forward the case to the Public Prosecution Attorney who will prosecute the case. If a suspect is identified, they will be charged in court and normally detained until conclusion of the case or is released on bail by the court.

The time from arrest to trial can be lengthy and in some complicated cases can take several months to years. For this reason, we strongly advise the next of kin to appoint legal representation in order to be kept fully informed on the investigation and to be advised on steps to take.

In South Sudan there are no family liaison police officers allocated to families of foreign nationals while the investigation is ongoing.

UK coroners and inquests

If you repatriate the person who died to England and Wales, there may be an inquest. The decision on when to hold an inquest is made by Her Majesty’s Coroner. Please note, an inquest will usually only happen in certain situations, for example, when someone has died in suspicious, unnatural, and violent circumstances or whilst in detention. If the person who died is cremated and only their ashes are brought home, there will not be an inquest.

If you repatriate the person who died to Scotland, the Procurator Fiscal may decide to call for a Fatal Accidents or Injuries Inquiry.

If you repatriate the person who died to Northern Ireland, there will be no coronial inquest or further inquiry.

Please note, Procurators Fiscal and Coroners do not have jurisdiction in another country, nor do they seek to apportion blame to a named individual.

You can find more information on Coroners and the Procurator Fiscal in the FCDO guide on death abroad at http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coping-with-death-abroad.

Legal Aid

Legal aid in South Sudan is primarily administered through local and international NGOs, including the South Sudan Law Society. You may wish to contact the South Sudan Law Society for further information and to apply for legal aid. Legal aid covers legal advice and/or representation of victims in court.

A list of English-speaking lawyers, who can be engaged privately, can be found at

https://find-a-professional-service-abroad.service.csd.fcdo.gov.uk/find?serviceType=lawyers

Compensation

There is no government compensation scheme in place for murder/ manslaughter/ terrorism cases in South Sudan.

You can find information on UK compensation for victims of terrorism overseas at http://www.gov.uk/compensation-victim-terrorist-attack.

Additional support

Local support organisations

There are no registered charities or organizations in South Sudan that can provide information, support or advice to bereaved families. Religious organisations can offer emotional support. There are several religious denominations in South Sudan including Catholic, Anglicans, Presbyterian and Muslims who can offer emotional support. Our Embassy can put you in touch with these denominations if you wish.

Support organisations in the UK

In the UK, there are many organisations that can help bereaved families. Some of these are listed in the guide coping with death abroad at http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coping-with-death-abroad.