MoFA Urges Undocumented Citizens to Make Use of Few Remaining Days to Return Home
Repatriating all undocumented citizens from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has become difficult, Foreign Affairs Minister Workneh Gebeyehu (PhD) said on Thursday.
Even though four days remain to the extended deadline set by the Saudi government, not more than 60,000 citizens have returned home, he revealed.
Despite the challenges to bring back all citizens in the remaining days, the government sees hopes of their return making use of the days ahead, Workneh said.
He also noted the government has been working hard to facilitate the return citizens through establishing a command post, allowing returnees to bring their belongings free of tax and requesting the extension of the amnesty.
“We are concerned about our citizens up to the last point”, Workneh stressed, noting that every possible means will be used to protect their safety.
Though mass media had played a crucial role in the campaign for the return of citizens, much is left to be done, the Minister stated. (ENA)
IGAD FMs to meet in Juba over peace agreement implementation
Foreign Ministers of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) will meet in Juba on Sunday to discuss the report of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) on the implementation of South Sudan’s peace agreement, said Sudan’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.
South Sudan’s peace agreement signed in Addis Ababa in August 2015 failed following the eruption of hostilities in the capital, Juba in July 2016.
The conflict has since spread to Equatoria and Bahr El Ghazal regions, which were initially considered peaceful during the earlier periods when violence broke out in mid-December, 2013.
Last month, South Sudan’s Minister of Information Michael Makuei said Juba would host a meeting for the IGAD countries and the Chiefs-of-Staff of Chiefs of the countries participating in the regional protection force during July.
The director of the Neighboring Countries Department at Sudan’s Foreign Ministry Bukhari Ghanim said his country’s delegation to the IGAD meeting in Juba would be headed by the foreign minister Ibrahim Ghandour. (Sudan Tribune)
Sudanese authorities urged to facilitate delivery of Ethiopian goods via Port Sudan
Sudanese Vice-President, Hassabo Mohammed Abdul Rahman, on Thursday ordered authorities to facilitate procedures of delivery of Ethiopian goods via Port Sudan.
Hassabo told the authorities during the Ethio-Sudanese Committee meeting held yesterday in Khartoum, Sudan.
At the event, he affirmed the dealing via one window-system for import and export procedures in Port Sudan, besides the transit fees in high ways and the development of the economic relations in light of the agreements inked by the two countries.
The meeting also discussed ways to transport Ethiopian pilgrims via the port, according to Sudanese News Agency (SUNA).
Currently, Port Sudan is mainly used to export goods from northern parts of Ethiopia to the Middle East and Europe.
However, the agreement signed two years ago between the two countries allows Ethiopia to import goods via the port.
The directive by Hassabo is aimed at putting into force this agreement.
Ethiopia currently uses Djibouti port for over 95 percent of its imports and exports. (FBC)
Somalia back online after entire country cut off from internet for three weeks
Somalia’s internet has returned after an outage of more than three weeks cost the Horn of Africa nation about $10m a day.
Citing Hormuud Telecom, the country’s largest telecom company, announced the restoration of service in a message to subscribers, AP reported on Monday.
The loss of internet service sparked anger across Somalia and affected the central and southern parts of the country including the capital, Mogadishu. The government called it a “major disaster.”
Officials and internet providers attributed the problem to a commercial ship that they said cut an undersea cable.
Major companies reported millions of dollars in revenue losses. University studies were disrupted.
The internet outage also complicated efforts to combat a nationwide drought that has half of the country’s 12 million people in need of assistance.
Residents in the capital celebrated the return of service. “This helps a lot,” Abdirashid Duale, the CEO of the largest international Somali remittance company, Dahabshiil, told The Associated Press. (AP)
By staff reporter