Sudan, South Sudan discuss cross-border issues

JUBA – Sudan and South Sudan discussed the border-related issues and the trade movement between the countries in Khartoum.

This was revealed by South Sudanese High-Level Delegations headed by Presidential Advisor on Security, Tut Gatluak upon arrival at Juba International from Khartoum on Sunday.

“We paid visit to Khartoum following a directive from South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit. We met the head of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo in Khartoum,” Gatluak told reporters at Juba International Airport on Sunday.

‘We discuss the border-related issues and the trade movement between the two countries. Sudan has not yet directed reopening of border points” he added.

The Presidential Advisor disclosed that the joint Boundary Committee is working to identify border points to be open.

“We call upon the joint committee to expedite discussion on border issues and give resolutions to the two presidents,” he said.

Having lingered on for nearly a decade since South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011; the border dispute is one of the major conflicts between the two countries.

The two countries are contesting the border areas of Abyei, commercial Kaka, Debbat El Fukhar, Jebel Megeines, the 14-Mile area south of Bahr El Arab, Hafrat El Nukhas, and Kafia Kingi.

Though the Joint Commission signed a border demarcation agreement in October 2019, several disputed areas remained, particularly due to the oil-rich nature of borderlands.

The failure of the October agreement became apparent when a brutal attack in the disputed Abyei province killed 32 people in January.