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Sudan decides to treat Southern Sudanese nationals as foreigners

Xinhua, March 18, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Sudanese government decided Thursday to treat the Southern Sudanese nationals resident in Sudan as foreigners when receiving services, official SUNA news agency reported.

The decision was made by the Sudanese Council of Ministers in its session, chaired by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Thursday, the report said.

The government decision came contrary to a previous decision by al-Bashir to treat the Southern Sudanese fleeing the fighting in their country as citizens.

The council of ministers also decided to check the identity of the Southern Sudanese nationals resident in Sudan, saying that legal action would be taken against anyone who does not hold a passport or an official entry visa.

During the past two days, Khartoum escalated its accusations against South Sudan of supporting a rebel movement fighting the Sudanese government in Blue Nile and South Kordofan areas.

To this end, Sudanese Presidential Assistant Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid on Thursday threatened that the government would adopt measures that could reach to closing the border with South Sudan again if Juba continued its support for the rebel movements in Darfur and the Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions.

On last January 27, al-Bashir decided to open the border with South Sudan after closure for over four years.

Sudan closed its border with South Sudan in June 2011, as Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)/northern sector rebelled in Sudan's South Kordofan State, along the border with the South.

Khartoum then accused Juba of sheltering SPLM/northern sector rebels, in addition to providing them with logistical support via the shared border.

In September 2012, Sudan and South Sudan signed a cooperation agreement in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa under the patronage of the African Union.

The agreement included a package of understandings relating to security, citizens' status, border and economic issues and others relating to oil and trade.

However, the signed agreements did not tackle the issues of Abyei and border demarcation.

The border issue constitutes one of the biggest barriers hampering the settlement of differences between Sudan and South Sudan, which involves disputes over five border areas, including Abyei, Dabatal-Fakhar, Jabel Al-Migainis, Samaha and Kafia Kanji. Endit