Africa

May 25, 2018 (KHARTOUM) Ten Sudanese illegal migrants have been killed and eleven others injured in a car accident in Libya.

Head of a programme on reducing illegal migration and promoting the voluntary return of Sudanese community in Libya Malik Mohamed Salih said “a truck carrying 21 Sudanese illegal migrants crashed on the highway linking Jallo and Ajdabiya towns”.

He pointed out that 10 migrants have been killed and 11 others injured, some seriously, saying the injured were transferred to Benghazi Hospital.

Names of the dead include: Mohamed al-Ajab Ahmed al-Tahir from Jazeera, Abdel-Wahab Mohamed Dafaa Allah from East Jazeera, Mohamed Ibrahim Ali Mohamed from East Jazeera, Hassan Imad Hassab al-Rasoul from Wad El-Sid, Bushra Daw al-Beit Fadal Allah from El-Dibaibat, Dadr al-Tamam Hamad Balla Musa from Tamboul, Babikir Mohamed Ahmed from Kordofan, Ali Abdel-Jaleel Kenana from 24 Al-Qurashi, Saeed Abdo Kenana from 24 Qurashi and Ahmed from Kordofan.

Following the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's 40-year-rule in 2011, Libya has slid into chaos and has become the most important transit country for illegal migrants to Europe.

In May 2016, Khartoum proposed to establish a joint force to monitor the common borders between Sudan and Libya to curb the movement of Darfur rebels and fight against illegal migration and terror groups.

The UN migration agency (IOM) in April 2017 said it had received reports about the existence of slave markets in Libya where West African migrants are being bought and sold openly.

Also, the CNN which investigated the reports broadcasted footage of a live auction where black youths are sold to North African buyers. The reported filmed by the journalists of the international news channel showed that the migrants are sold for $400.

Sudan is considered as a country of origin and transit for the illegal migration and human trafficking. Thousands of people from Eritrea and Ethiopia are monthly crossing the border into the Sudanese territories on their way to Europe through Libya or Egypt.

The East African nation has also forged a strategic partnership with several European countries and the EU to combat illegal migration and human trafficking.

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May 25, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Minister of Cabinet Affairs Ahmed Saad Omer said King Mohammed VI of Morocco would pay his first ever visit to Khartoum in October.

On Thursday, Omer met First Vice-President and Prime Minister Bakri Hassan Salih and briefed him on the outcome of his recent 3-day visit to Morocco.

In press statements following the meeting, Omer said he met with a number of Moroccan officials and ministers including the Prime Minister and the Minister of Immigration Affairs as well as the Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO).

He pointed out that the meeting discussed ways to promote bilateral relations besides the implementation of the agreements signed between the two countries.

The Cabinet Affairs Minister added he signed an agreement with the Moroccan side to benefit from their experience in attracting expatriates savings.

Sudan is among few countries that recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. The two countries have a number of trade agreements and there are no visa restrictions.

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May 25, 2018 (JUBA) - South Sudan opposition People's Liberal Party (PLP) leader said he is seeking the position of third vice-president created by the IGAD mediation.

PLP chairman Peter Mayen Majongdit who is also the leader of the South Sudan Umbrella Coalition of Political Parties for Peace and Democratic Transformation, confirmed to Sudan Tribune Thursday that he seeks as leader of the opposition group to get the position of the Third Vice-President.

“As political parties, we are saying the position of the third vice president should be taken by non-armed groups and who are the non-armed group? This is our party, Peter told Sudan Tribune.

In its Bridging Proposal, the IGAD mediation team said the structure of the presidency should be composed of the President (TGoNU); the First Vice President (nominated by SPLM/A-IO),, the Vice President (TGoNU); and the Third Vice President (nominated by Other Parties & Entities (SSOA, FDs & OPP).

The opposition leader went further to say the position of second vice president should be given to the political parties or SPLM-FDs because the positions of the President and First Vice President are given to armed groups.

Majongdit was alluding to the President Salva Kiir and SPLM-IO leader Riek Machar.

However, the mediators intended to give the second vice-president position to the SPLM-IG including Taban Deng Gai.

The SPLM-IO led by Machar rejected the Bridging Proposal but the IGAD Special Envoy For South Sudan who plays the role of chief mediator asked the parties and stakeholders to think about the proposal.

The IGAD Council of Ministers is expected to meet next month to decide on the fate of the proposal and determine a new date for the resumption of the revitalization forum.

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May 25, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Friday called for observations by the Sudanese government and President Omer al-Bashir over the legal questions raised by Jordan over its case against the Sudanese leader.

The Hague-based court in December 2017 accused Jordan, which is a party to the Rome Statute of the ICC, of failing to arrest al-Bashir - when he was on Jordanian territory to participate in an Arab League summit on 29 March 2017 - in compliance with its obligations under the Rome Statute and decided to refer the case to the Security Council.

Last March, the ICC Appeals Chamber called on the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union, the League of Arab States and the Organization of American States to submit observations by 16 July 2018 on the legal questions raised by Jordan in its appeal.

This time, the ICC Appeals Chamber "invited submissions, by 16 July 2018, from the competent authorities of the Republic of Sudan and Mr Omer Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir on the legal questions raised by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (“Jordan”) in its appeal pending before the Appeals Chamber," said the ICC in a statement on Friday 25 May.

Sudan since 2008 has rejected to cooperate with the ICC.

To justify its call for observations, Last March the ICC Appeals Chamber said it "noted that the legal matters raised by the appeal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan against Pre-Trial Chamber II's decision of 11 December 2017 in the Al Bashir case may have implications beyond that case".

In its appeal of March 2018, Jordan pointed out that the ICC did not take into account the immunity given to presidents. The kingdom added the Arab League charter stipulates that the host country invites all presidents.

The Appeals Chamber didn't say when it would make its decision. But it will be the first time that it considers a referral of a State Party's non-compliance to the Assembly of States Parties and the United Nations Security Council.

The ICC issued two arrest warrants against al-Bashir in 2009 and 2010 for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed in Darfur.

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May 25, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - A United Nations agency has called to integrate Sudanese refugees in Chad within the local community as a result to their refusal to regain Darfur region 15-year after the beginning of the conflict.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), there are 330 439 Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad.

Despite the signing in May 2017, of a tripartite agreement between Chad Sudan and UNHCR for the voluntary repatriation of refugees only "53 Sudanese refugees returned to Darfur; and other convoys are in progress".

"The prospects for return remain limited for the majority of Sudanese refugees," said OCHA in an overview of the humanitarian situation Eastern Chad released in the French language.

The report pointed to the drastic lack of funds from donors who are concerned by new humanitarian crises in other parts of the world, while Darfur is no longer one the headlines of the media, adding "In this context, it is necessary to strengthen their integration within local communities" OCHA concluded.

The integration of the Sudanese refugees means giving them the land to cultivate and to exercise economic activities, but also provides the settlement with the needed infrastructures and services.

It is also not clear if Chad and Sudan will accept such measure.

In January 2018, Sudan, Chad and the United Nations signed an agreement for the repatriation of 20,000 Sudanese refugees from Chad to Darfur region during this year.

However, on 16 April 16, the UNHCR and Sudan's Commissioner of Refugees Hamad El-Gizouli have welcomed in Tina, North Darfur, the return of 53 Sudanese refugees from Chad.

UN reports say the security situation in Darfur has largely improved but stress that the lack of infrastructures and services prevent the return of refugees and displaced persons to their areas of origin.

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Praising efforts by African countries to alleviate poverty and build more stable societies, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres pledged his on-going support for ending conflict and building peace across the continent.

The escape of three patients infected with the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from the hospital where they were being treated is “not unexpected”, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday, underlining the need to step up efforts to explain the dangers of the deadly disease to affected communities.

River transport is common in DR Congo as there are few roads but the boats are often overloaded.

Despite its vast size and dilapidated health system, DR Congo says it can contain the deadly Ebola virus.

Despite its vast size and dilapidated health system, DR Congo says it can contain the deadly Ebola virus.

Following a series of armed attacks on camps hosting displaced Sudanese in central Darfur, the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission there has urged all parties to respect designated humanitarian areas, which it says should be free of weapons, threats, and violence.

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May 24, 2018 (JUBA) - Health partners, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health in South Sudan, have initiated Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) campaigns to mitigate the risk of cholera outbreaks during the current rainy season across the country.

A child receives an oral cholera vaccine dose in the South Sudan capital, Juba (Medair Photo)

The campaigns, officials says, are targeting over 854,000 people in South Sudan's cholera endemic ‘hot spots' in the first half of 2018 and will incorporate water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions that are critical to achieve the global target of attaining a 90% reduction of cholera deaths by 2030.

“These OCV campaigns are critical for preventing recurrent cholera outbreaks in endemic areas,” said Wamala Joseph, Epidemiologist at World Health Organization (WHO) South Sudan.

“They provide protection in the immediate term and serve as a bridge to rolling out long-term and sustainable WASH interventions in cholera hot spots,” he added.

According to the WHO, since January 2018, a total of 60,614 people were vaccinated in the first round of OCV campaigns in Malakal Protection of Civilians (PoC) site and Wau Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) sites, another 173,480 people vaccinated in the second round of OCV campaigns in Aburoc and Wau IDP sites, Budi county, Malaka town and Malakal PoC site.

Variations in coverage, WHO says, are due to unpredictable population movements, either due to conflict-related displacements or seasonal movement in search of water, pasture and food.

South Sudan has, since 2013, faced several outbreaks of cholera affecting vulnerable populations in IDP camps, urban informal settlements, and cattle camps as well as rural population, island dwellers and communities along River Nile.

According to WHO, more than 20,000 cases of cholera, including 436 deaths were reported during the longest and largest cholera outbreak that lasted from 18 June 2016 to 7 February 2018.

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