Sudanese army arrests 26 illegal migrants in North Darfur
August 13, 2016 (EL-FASHER) – Security authorities in North Darfur state on Saturday have arrested 26 foreign nationals as they tried to cross from Sudan to Libya at Um Kadada area, 150 km east of the state’s capital, El-Fasher.
A security source who spoke to Sudan Tribune on the condition of anonymity, said an army intelligence force from the sixth infantry division have aborted a human trafficking operation, pointing that 26 foreign nationals including 24 Somalis and 2 Kenyans were arrested.
He said the detainees were riding on a four-wheel drive Ford vehicle at Um Kadada area, pointing they were heading to El-Fasher and from there to the Libyan border.
Sudan is considered as a country of origin and transit for the illegal migration and human trafficking. Thousands of people from Eritrea and Ethiopia are monthly crossing the border into the Sudanese territories on their way to Europe through Libya or Egypt.
Last June, hundreds of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) elements have been deployed in the remote desert of the Northern State shortly after complaint by the governor of drug and human trafficking by the criminal networks.
Upon their return to North Darfur state late last month, SRF Commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, (aka Hametti) said his fighters arrested about 600 Ethiopian illegal migrants near Sudan’s border with Libya and Egypt.
Earlier this year, the European Union granted a €100m development package to address the root causes of irregular migration in Sudan. The financial support came after pledge by the Sudanese government to cooperate with Brussels to stop human trafficking to Europe.
In January 2014, the Sudanese parliament approved an anti-human trafficking law which punishes those involved with human trafficking with up to 20 years imprisonment.
(ST)