Orbits: Foreign Presence in Sudan: A Ticking Bomb

By: Muawad Mustafa Rashid

The current population of Sudan is 48,913,199 as of Saturday, February 24, 2024, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data.
The Sudanese Minister of Interior has recently launched a campaign to regate the foreign presence in the country, especially after it was proved the involvement of foreigners in looting the properties of the civilians during the ongoing war after they were recruited the the RSF militia.
According to reliable sources there are more than 11 million foreigners in Sudan.
All those foreigners are out of the banking system as they are working in the black market.
The foreign presence in Sudan has become a great concern due to its negative social, economic, and security impacts on Sudanese society.
Historically, Sudan has always been the place where different ethnic groups, tribes, religions, and cultures converged and coexisted.
Sudan is a transit point in the Eastern African Migratory Route into North Africa and towards Europe as well as west into Yemen and the Gulf States.
Sudan is also a hub for the northeastern route for nearly all Eritrean, Ethiopian, and Somali migrants who intend to cross over into Europe relying on the services of unscrupulous brokers.
Terrorist groups are also known to operate in Sudan and these groups seek opportunities to carry out attacks, which include suicide operations, bombings, and kidnapping.
Human mobility is not only a consequence of conflict but also caused by ongoing tension between the different armed groups. Displacement in Sudan is also connected to the exploitation of resources that has disrupted traditional migratory routes, intertribal competition over water and land use, and infrastructural and economic development projects that have caused urbanization and large-scale population movement.
In 2013, the number of international migrants in Sudan was 446,707, with the top 5 countries of origin in order of population being Eritrea (more than 30%), South Sudan (roughly 18%), Chad (approximately 17%), Ethiopia (about 14%), and Nigeria (around 3%). Conversely, in 2019 the number of international migrants had risen to over 1.2 million, and the majority of the international migrants in Sudan were from South Sudan (approximately 750,000) substantially outnumbering the next largest population of around 200,000 Eritreans. The third, fourth, and fifth top countries remained the same and in the same order of population: Chad, Ethiopia, and Nigeria.
Regional instability affecting bordering countries has led to an increasing number of people seeking asylum in Sudan.
As of December 31, 2020, Sudan was hosting 1,056,326 refugees and asylum seekers. Refugees are hosted in the states of Khartoum (28.9%), White Nile (25.4%), Kassala (11.8%), East Darfur (6.4%), West Kordofan (5.9%), Gedaref (5.1%), South Darfur (4.9%), South Kordofan (3.6%), North Darfur (2.3%), and Al Gezira (1.7%). These refugees are mainly from neighboring countries: South Sudan (736,685), Eritrea (122,465), the Syrian Arab Republic (93,498), Ethiopia (69,849), the Central African Republic (26, 930), Chad (3,507), and Yemen (1,938). The South Sudanese refugee population nearly doubled since 2018 and many of them remain vulnerable to forced labor and sex trafficking. Sudan is also witnessing a recent influx of Ethiopian refugees fleeing violence in Tigray, with over 60,000 refugees as of January 17, 2021. A total of 30,771 refugees have been relocated from Hamdayet and Abdrafi and Village 8 to the refugee camps at Um Raquba (20,572 people) and Tunaydbah (10,199 people).
It is high time for the concerned institutions to develop a strategy to regulate the foreign presence in Sudan
It must be recognized that the responsibility of foreign presence in Sudan is collective and includes the ordinary citizen, the police authorities, and all related institutions.
The issue should be dealt with as top priority, especially the illegal presence.
We fully support the Minister of Interior directives to all concerned parties to immediately reconvene and coordinate between the various state institutions to develop a strategy to regulate the foreign presence in Sudan.