Minister: Sudan fighting illegal immigration of its own free will

Sudan is not under external pressure to stop human trafficking and smugglers but is doing so out of its sense of responsibility,  Information Minister, Ahmed Bilal Osman, said yesterday.

Speaking at an event in Khartoum, the minister said that despite the country’s scarce resources, Sudan is making tremendous efforts to combat this global phenomenon and bears a lot of the costs while the benefits are reaped by Western countries.

“The Sudanese forces are not fighting human traffickers and smugglers, but work to save the victims of this criminal activity who get lost in the desert,” he said.

“Just as they save migrants from deep sea, we are saving them from dying in deserts,” the minister said, adding that the international community should support Sudan instead of accusing it of not dealing seriously with this phenomenon.

READ: Sudan calls for help to combat human trafficking

Osman called on European countries to develop a common formula to deal with the phenomenon.

Sudan is a transit route for illegal immigrants coming mostly from the Horn of Africa.

In early 2017, the Sudanese parliament passed a law against human trafficking with sentences ranging from death to five to 20 years imprisonment.