Sudan’s foreign minister attends revived Khartoum process meeting
April 9, 2025 (CAIRO) – Sudan’s Foreign Minister Ali Youssif participated on Wednesday in a ministerial meeting of the Khartoum Process held in Cairo after a three-year hiatus, reaffirming Sudan’s commitment to combating illegal immigration.
The Khartoum Process was launched in 2014 to foster international cooperation in fighting human trafficking and migrant smuggling. It later expanded to include regional cooperation between countries of origin, transit, and destination and to support legal migration pathways, development, and peace.
Alongside the Sudanese foreign minister, officials from the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU), as well as representatives from 50 countries in Europe and the Horn of Africa, attended the meeting.
During his address, Youssif reiterated Sudan’s commitment “to continuing its efforts in combating illegal immigration, adopting approaches based on a developmental perspective, addressing root causes and strengthening collective action”.
He said Sudan is keen for the Khartoum Process to fulfill its objectives, viewing it as a mechanism for monitoring migration issues and coordinating regional and international efforts to tackle the challenges.
The minister called for establishing a principle for addressing migration and combating illegal immigration through a comprehensive approach based on equitable cooperation, considering migration’s security and developmental aspects and addressing the root causes of the crisis.
Youssif expressed Sudan’s gratitude for the efforts of neighboring countries in hosting Sudanese citizens who fled their country due to war, stressing the government’s commitment to creating a suitable environment for citizens to return home and providing them with necessary services.
Since conflict erupted on April 15, 2023, some 3.9 million Sudanese have crossed borders into neighboring countries. Of these, 1.5 million arrived in Egypt, while the remainder are distributed among Chad, South Sudan, Libya, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, and Uganda.
The Khartoum Process meetings, held on Tuesday at the expert and senior official levels and on Wednesday at the ministerial level, discussed the Cairo Ministerial Declaration and the Cairo Plan, both of which were adopted.
The Cairo Plan of Action serves as a strategic document outlining for the first time the general framework for the next presidency of the Khartoum Process. Egypt’s foreign minister handed over the presidency to France’s Minister of State for the Interior.