Sudan Tribune
Sunday, June 23, 2013
The Sudanese interior ministry has announced its determination to deport
all undocumented foreign nationals and called upon foreign citizens to
legalize their status in the country before the deadline stated by the
authorities.
The state’s minister at the interior ministry, Babiker Ahmed Digna,
has disclosed to the pro-government Sudan Media Center (SMC) website,
that foreign embassies in Khartoum were being contacted to legalize the
status of their subjects, affirming the government’s seriousness to
regulate foreign presence in Sudan.
 - Sudan’s interior minister Minister of Interior, Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid (C), (ANDREAS SOLARO,ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images)
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He stressed that the interior
ministry will issue identity cards as well as numbers for foreigners in
order to protect them and prevent human trafficking.
The Sudanese
official further revealed that his country is working closely with the
governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea to fight human trafficking, pointing
out that this phenomenon began to fade as a result of their cooperation
in this matter.
He warned against harboring illegal immigrants, saying that those who harbor them will be held accountable.
The
U.S. state department 2012 report on human trafficking identifies Sudan
as a "source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and
children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking"."The
Government of Sudan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for
the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to
do so. While the government took some initial steps during the
reporting period to acknowledge the existence of trafficking, draft
anti-trafficking legislation, prosecute suspected traffickers,
demobilize and reintegrate child soldiers, and waive overstay fines for
foreign domestic workers, its efforts to combat human trafficking
through law enforcement, protection, or prevention measures were
undertaken in an ad hoc fashion, rather than as the result of strategic
planning" the report said.
The U.S. called on Khartoum to "enact a
comprehensive legal regime to define and address human trafficking
crimes and harmonize various existing legal statutes; increase efforts
to investigate suspected human trafficking cases, increase prosecution
of trafficking offenses, and convict and punish trafficking offenders".
Last
March, the Sudanese parliament said that it expects to receive a draft
bill from the cabinet soon containing an anti-human trafficking law.
Eastern
Sudan in particular is believed to be serving as a passage to migrants
from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia who seek to reach Europe with the
help of human smugglers.