Sudan on Saturday 6 January, 2018, officially announced the closure of its eastern border with Eritrea following the deployment of thousands of Sudanese troops in Kasala State on the border with Eritrea.
The decision to shut the boarders has come just days after the country’s President, Omar Al-Bashir, declared a state of emergency in Kasala State. The state of emergency announcement was made by the President on 30 December, 2017.
According to the sources, emergency in the State was called for, relating to collecting arms and unlicensed vehicles, confronting human trafficking operations and smuggling of arms and commodities that have been taking place in Kasala State.
‘That decision was part of a government campaign to collect illegal arms in those two states,’ explained the officials.
The state of emergency in the state is said to will last for six months, until further notice – sources explain.
Adam Jamma, the state governor of Kasala issued a decree to close all border crossings with Eritrea from the night of January 5, until further instructions – sources show.
It is reported that, thousands of Eritrea nationals have illegally been fleeing a repressive regime back home, using the boarders at Kasala to get into Sudan, from where they later on get themselves across the Mediterranean to Europe.
One of the residents at Kasala State, an eye witness whose name was not mentioned, informed that hundreds of Sudanese soldiers, several military vehicles and tanks had crossed through the town towards the border with Eritrea over the past two days.
Sudan’s war-torn regions of Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan, are also other states upon which the state of emergency was imposed.
Reporter: Shamilah Namuddu
