Khartoum, Juba agree to re-establish Abyei Joint Oversight Committee: ministre
May 25, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government said it reached an agreement with Juba on Wednesday to re-establish Abyei Joint Oversight Committee (AJOC) tasked with security issues in the disputed region.
Sudan’s Defence minister, Yassin Ibrahim made the announcement at the end of the Joint Political and Security Mechanism (JPSM) held in Khartoum.
Following South Sudan’s secession from neighbouring Sudan in July 2011, the JPSM was tasked by the 2012 Cooperation Agreement to oversee the demilitarization of the border zone. The JPSM was agreed upon by both sides to oversee the security of the common border between the two countries.
“It was agreed to establish a joint supervision of the Abyei area,” Ibrahim, who is also head of the joint committee told Sudan New Agency (SUNA).
He added, “Also, it was agreed to open immediately the crossings, activate the river transport sector between the two countries and remove all previous obstacles”.
For her part, the South Sudanese Defence Minister, Angelina Teny said that the joint committee achieved “positive” results on the outstanding issues.
The two countries, she stated, are moving forward in addressing all obstacles and opening channels of communication by opening border crossings and river transport.
According to Teny, the mechanism recommended controlling and monitoring citizens at the borders between the two countries, accelerating joint work and implementing border crossings.
The AJOC is part of the Temporary Arrangement for Administration and Security of the Abyei Area which was signed on June 20, 2011. In September 2011, the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) convened an inaugural meeting of the AJOC in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The AJOC is composed of two members from Sudan and two others from South Sudan, a member from the African Union and the Force Commander of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Abyei (UNISFA).
(ST)