The Sudanese Ministry of Interior has formed a special committee to review unregulated foreigners’ presence in the country.
The committee will also be dedicated to the prosecution office for immigration and asylum violations.
Speaking at the Forum on Foreign Presence and Identity Review on Wednesday, the Deputy Director of Police and representative of the Ministry of Interior, Lt Gen Mohammed Ibrahim Awadallah, stated that the Minister had directed the establishment of a prosecution for immigration and asylum violations.
“As part of these efforts, through discussions and studies on mechanisms to control foreign presence and review identity, the implementation of the recommendations from the previous workshop, which was organized, has already begun,” he added.
Awadallah revealed the formation of state-level committees to implement the workshop’s outcomes and control foreign presence, noting that the committees had already started their work.
“The Police Force’s training department has conducted training for personnel involved in monitoring and overseeing foreign affairs,” he explained, highlighting that illegal foreign presence and migration posed a challenge for the government.
Political analyst Ayman Ibrahim told Radio Tamazuj that the foreign presence in Sudan was both significant and longstanding.
“It refers specifically to chaotic or illegal foreign presence, which the government has neglected by not securing the borders and due to administrative corruption,” he said.
“The formation of this committee is primarily aimed at addressing the large influx of mercenaries or cross-border fighters among the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militias in the current conflict,” he added.
Ibrahim noted that in 2020, the Ministry of Interior revoked the citizenship of 3,500 foreigners, stating that they had acquired it illegally under the Bashir regime.
“I don’t believe the current efforts, including the newly formed committee, will have a significant impact because the issue is vast, and the problem of chaotic foreign presence is substantial. Even if these committees conduct fieldwork, their operations will be limited to areas under the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) control. Therefore, I think the matter should be given more serious consideration as it is a matter of national security,” he asserted.
The Red Sea University, in collaboration with the Sudanese Ministry of Interior, organized a forum on foreign presence in Sudan, with participation from experts and stakeholders.
In March of this year, the Ministry of Interior announced a plan to regulate foreign presence, accusing some foreigners of participating in the ongoing war between SAF and RSF, which began in 2023.
Recent reports indicate that there were more than 3,440,000 foreigners in Sudan before the war broke out on April 15, 2023. Thousands have since left the country.