UN High Commissioner concludes Sudan visit

The Sudan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Professor Ibrahim Ghandour on Wednesday received the visiting United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, who was on a two-day visit to Sudan.

The official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reports that the meeting reviewed the situation of refugees in Sudan and those coming from South Sudan in particular and who were visited by the high commissioner in the refugee camp of Nimir in East Darfur.

The commissioner commended the role played by the Sudan towards refugees and its support for the UN and the UNHCR programmes in particular.

He further commended the generosity of the Sudanese communities that have been hosting refugees driven by civil strives and hunger in their home areas in south Sudan and other neighbouring countries.

He said this was not something strange for the Sudanese people whom, he said, he had known while working in Eastern Sudan back in the nineteen eighties

The Commissioner said the international community holds high the assistance provided by the Sudan and its sharing of its resources with the refugees and that therefore he was of the view that the Sudan should receive more and more assistance from the international community so that it could shoulder such a huge responsibility on behalf of the international community.

The commissioner said UNHCR is of the view that the economic embargo imposed on the Sudan should be revoked, expressing his hope that this should be carried out in October a matter that would help the Sudanese government and the Sudanese people achieve the stability desired and achieve sustainable development in the country.

South Sudanese refugees

Minister Ghandour, welcomed the visit of the UNHCR commissioner to Sudan saying that it reflect the view of the international community as to the role being played by Sudan in hosting the refugees from a number of countries, and from South Sudan in particular.

He said this was also to point out that the international community should play its role in assisting the Sudan and that it was imperative to find a peaceful solution to the conflict currently going on in South Sudan

The meeting also discussed the return of Sudanese refugees in Chad and the tripartite agreement signed between the Sudan, Chad and the UN for the voluntary return of those refugees to their home areas in the Sudan, following the stability and peace achieved there.

Interior Minister

While in Sudan, Grandi also met with the Minister of interior, General Hamid Mohamed Manan, the representative of UNHCR in Khartoum, Noriko Yoshida and the commissioner of the refugee affairs, Engineer Hamad Al Juzouli.

The meeting reviewed the Sudan's effort in hosting the refugees and the asylum seekers from neighbouring countries, and its role in preparing appropriate circumstance for dignified life via providing security, shelter, the health and education assistances “despite the weak regional and international support provided to Sudan that do not meet needs of the refugees”.

The high commissioner’s visit concluded yesterday.

(Source: SUNA)