Sudan imposes security clearance ahead of citizenship for Syrian refugees

Sudan won’t be “lenient” in granting citizenship to Syrian refugees, Interior Minister Hamid Manan said on Monday. The minister made his comments during an interview with the state-run Blue Nile Channel.

Manan explained that Sudan has established a Syrian Refugee Support Committee (SRSC), which aims to study citizenship applications from refugees and take the final decisions on each one. The committee is also meant to monitor the whole process. Applications, he pointed out, get approved only after ensuring that the applicant “does not pose any security threat” to Sudan.

The Sudanese government recently issued a presidential decree to grant citizenship to Syrian refugees after such security clearance. Manan was keen to stress that his country welcomes all Syrians in Sudan and acknowledges the severity of the emergency conditions which prompted them to leave their homeland.

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In recent days, Sudanese activists have accused the government of being “lenient” in granting citizenship to Syrians. According to SRSC data, Sudan currently hosts 250,000 Syrian refugees, most of whom live in the capital Khartoum.