The Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced Saturday that a new visa entry system has been initiated for Sudanese wishing to enter, Anadolu reports.
The decision came as the number of Sudanese fleeing ongoing fighting in Sudan has reached more than 200,000 since mid-April.
“These measures aim to set an organisational framework for that process after more than 50 days since the outbreak of the crisis,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement.
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Abu Zeid, however, said the measures “are not intended to prevent or limit the number of Sudanese citizens entering Egypt.”
He added that already there are nearly 5 million Sudanese in Egypt and noted the ministry detected some groups that are involved in activities of forging entry visas to Egypt to make profits.
He added that the new system, which is based on automated visas, is aimed at combating those crimes.
On the reasons behind the newly-imposed visa entry, Abu-Zeid revealed that illegal activities by individuals and groups on the Sudanese side of the border were recently detected, adding that these activities included forging entry visas to Egypt to make profits.
These groups exploit the need of Sudanese citizens to come to Egypt and the good intentions of the Egyptian side in responding to the crisis and absorbing such a massive influx of Sudanese to Egypt, he clarified.
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As a result, Abu-Zeid noted, the Egyptian authorities introduced regulatory procedures based on automated visas to combat these crimes.
Moreover, he confirmed that the Egyptian consulates in Sudan were provided with the necessary electronic devices to carry out these procedures accurately and promptly, ensuring the orderly arrival of Sudanese citizens to Egypt.
The spokesperson said that there were rules and procedures governing the entry of Sudanese citizens into Egypt, adding that these rules were formulated by joint consular committees with the Sudanese side, the spokesperson said.
These committees, he added, convene regularly to review and update the relevant procedures according to developments in the situation and circumstances.
The Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group have engaged in heavy fighting since mid-April in different areas across Sudan, including the capital, Khartoum, amid accusations against each other of starting assaults that have left hundreds dead.
