Commissioner for Refugees Meets EU Humanitarian Aid Office Delegation

The Commissioner for Refugees, Dr. Nizar Al-Tijani Ahmed Abu Al-Gasim, met on Sunday at his office at the Refugee Commission headquarters in Khartoum with a delegation from the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), currently visiting the country, in the presence of the Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Sudan, Ms. Marie Helene.
The Commissioner welcomed the European delegation, pointing to the challenges facing Sudan in the post-war period due to the extensive and systematic destruction targeting infrastructure and civilian facilities. According to the Commission’s media office, the meeting addressed efforts by the Commission and its national and international partners to resume refugee registration operations in the first week of May, alongside the issuance of identification documents, despite the systematic destruction and looting of registration equipment. Dr. Nizar stated that more than 35,000 asylum seekers are awaiting registration, in addition to those needing to renew their cards, revealing plans to issue a new refugee card incorporating a foreign identification number. He added that the Commission has begun exploring sustainable solutions by proposing development projects requiring international funding, including agricultural initiatives and other ready-to-launch projects needing operational financing to serve both refugee and host communities in White Nile State, amid a sharp reduction in UN funding.
For her part, the head of the delegation affirmed that they would work with European Union member states to develop high-priority programmes for Sudan, with a focus on development-oriented interventions.