EU vows to assist Sudan’s efforts to combat terrorism & financing
May 17, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – The European Union (EU) Wednesday said it would assist Sudan to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.
The workshop seeks to examine terrorism rates and financiers and its impact on national security as well as the organised crime and the role of the private sector in the freezing of funds besides the support rendered from regional and international organisations.
The projects manager at the EU mission in Khartoum, Francesca Arato, who addressed the workshop Wednesday, said they are determined to support Sudan to meet the international standards to combat terrorism financing and money laundering.
She disclosed that an integrated program has been developed to provide € 6 million to face challenges of terrorism and money laundering in the Horn of Africa, saying that extremism has become a threat to all countries and peoples of the world.
Arato pointed that Sudan is qualified to receive assistance but it is required to develop laws to combat terrorism financing and money laundering, saying illegal money transfer poses a serious threat to the stability of all countries of the world.
For its part, Sudan’s Minister of Justice Under-Secretary Ahmed Abas Abdallah underscored the government is keen to combat money laundering and terrorism financing at its highest level, pointing to the danger and negative impact of this phenomena at the local, regional and international levels
He pointed the government has supported terrorism financing and money laundering agencies, revealing they seek to implement an effective combat system.
The Sudanese official underlined the government has the political will and commitment to combat the two phenomena, saying Sudan seeks to implement international standards in this regard.
The representative of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Ahmed Ibrahim said they continued to cooperate with a number of competent international institutions to combat terrorism financing and money laundering.
He pointed that Sudan seeks to combat the two phenomena at all levels, saying they are to cooperate with the concerned EU and United Nations agencies.
Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international agency on combating money laundering and terrorism financing, in 2015 removed Sudan from its blacklist, saying the east-African nation is no longer a threat to the integrity of the international financial system.
Sudanese parliament adopted in June 2014 a law to combat money laundering and terrorism financing that contained articles related to consolidating investigations and financial intelligence which is the enforcement mechanism that receives notifications and information from financial institutions and other parties.
Sudan was placed on the U.S. terrorism list in 1993 over allegations it was harbouring Islamist militants working against regional and international targets.
Sudan has been under EU sanctions since the 1989 coup d’état and didn’t receive any development aid from Europe.
However, the European body reconsidered its position following the waves of illegal migrants from Syria, Iraq, and Horn of Africa countries. Sudan is identified as a source of migrants to Europe and a transit country for migrants from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia.
In April 2016, the EU officially allocated Sudan €100 million to improve the living conditions for refugees, help Sudanese returnees to reintegrate back into society, and to improve security at the border.
In addition to this support, Sudan benefits from additional funding under the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, in particular from a €40 million programme to better manage migration in the region.
(ST)
