El Burhan to withdraw Sudanese citizenship from over 3,000 people

Yesterday, the head of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council, Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, announced the decision to withdraw Sudanese citizenship from 3,548 naturalised residents, granted to them under the regime of former ruler Omar Al Bashir.

The decision to withdraw the Sudanese nationality was issued following recommendations by a specialised technical committee that advised to review Sudanese citizenship on the basis of naturalisation as granted by members of the Al Bashir regime between 1989-2019.  

He added that a committee was still reviewing other naturalisations approved by the Al Bashir regime.

El Burhan also decided to cancel the exemption for Syrian nationals that allowed them to enter Sudan without prior issued entry visas. This decision was based on a recommendation by the Minister of Interior Affairs, Police Lt Gen El Tereifi Idris.

In March El Burhan issued a decision to investigate roughly 13,000 Sudanese nationalities granted to foreigners under the previous regime.

The decision followed the announcement by Minister of Interior Affairs El Tereifi Idris in November last year to prosecute those involved in illegally granting citizenship to foreigners and bring them to justice.

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