Oct 29, 2020(Nyamilepedia) — Sudan and South Sudan governments have agreed to reopen their borders after South Sudan’s high-level delegation visited Khartoum earlier this week.
According to a statement by the SPLM-IO deputy spokesperson, who is also the defense ministry spokesperson, Col. Lam Paul Gabriel, the border point between the upper Nile and While Nile was reopened in a ceremony in Kosti, White Nile state.
“On 27/10/2020, the Minister of Defense & Veterans Affairs Hon Angelina Jany Teny and her Sudanese Counterpart Hon. Yassin Ibrahim led a High Level delegations from South Sudan and Sudan to witness the long awaited official reopening of the borders between the two sisterly Countries in Kosti, White Nile State,” read the part of the statement by Col. Lam Paul Gabriel.
The ceremony was attended by the South Sudan’s minister of Defense and veterans’ affairs Hon. Angelina Jany Teny and her Sudan counterpart Hon Yassin Ibrahim.
This is the first time in nine years that the sisterly countries are reopening their borders which were closed back in 2012 following the Heglig crisis which saw South Sudan armed forces, the SPLA-IO, taking over Heglig, a disputed border town near Unity state, for almost one week in April that year.
The two nations tried to mend their differences by singing a Cooperation Agreement in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which was supposed to facilitate the reopening of the borders. This agreement was never implemented.
Earlier this month, Sudan’s President of the Transitional sovereign council General Abdel Fattah al Burhan said during the signing of the Sudanese peace agreement in juba that South Sudanese will no longer need visas to visit Sudan. This is in line with the cooperation agreement which guarantee Four Freedoms of residence, freedom of movement, freedom to undertake economic activity and freedom to acquire and dispose property
President Salva Kiir has also ordered the implementation of the four freedoms.
