The interior ministers of Sudan and South Sudan meeting in Addis Ababa over the last two days inaugurated a high committee for immigration and nationality and decided to establish a technical sub-committee to consider property rights, immigration issues and documentation of nationals.
Minister Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid and Minister Alison Monani Magaya co-chair the ‘Joint High Level Committee on the Status of Nationals of the Other State and Related Matters,’ one of the mechanisms of the Addis Ababa accord.
According to a copy of its internal rules of procedure, the high committee considers itself “responsible for all matters relating to the status and treatment of the nationals of each state in the other State.”
The committee is comprised of the two co-chairs and representatives of other ministries and authorities of each state. It meets alternately between Khartoum and Juba at least once every two months during the first six months of its establishment.
As to the technical sub-committee, it will be co-chaired by the Directors of Nationality, Passports and Immigration of the two countries. It is expected to meet first next week in Khartoum.
In their work the committees will be guided by the Framework Agreement and the Implementation Matrix of 12 March.
The African Union, which is mediating the talks, hailed the meeting of the interior ministers as “a new positive step in the relations between Sudan and South Sudan.” AU Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma in a press statement added that their work is “critical for realizing the Freedoms of the nationals of each state to move within, reside or to undertake economic activity in the other state.”
Photo: Minister Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid (right) and Minister Alison Monani Magaya (left) sign terms of reference for the new committees, 25 April 2013 (AUHIP)