March 23, 2023

Ethiopians are being harassed for not having a residence permit in Sudan

City: AdamaCurrent Affairs

Ethiopians in Sudan are legally required to have a residence permit, but Ethiopians with passports are accused of not having a permit.

Avatar: Tesfalidet Bizuwork
By Tesfalidet Bizuwork

Tesfalidet is Addis Zeybe's correspondent in Adama.

Ethiopians are being harassed for not having a residence permit in Sudan

Following an increase in the cost of living in Sudan and an increase in the number of unemployed Sudanese, the refugees stated that the Sudanese government's security forces have increased their pressure on Ethiopians, Eritreans, and refugees from other countries.

Although the Ethiopian Embassy in Sudan charges $150 to issue and renew a new passport for students and adults, and $350 to replace a lost passport, they claim that citizens are experiencing difficulties because the service is inefficient.

According to a source that has a legal residence permit (iqama) and works for an international organization in Khartoum, despite having a legal permit, she witnesses daily harassment by security forces and refugees in the city, and the fee for issuing a legal permit has increased significantly.

The Ethiopians in and around Khartoum who expressed their complaints to Addis Zeybe, said that even though they have registered to issue passports, they are not coming in enough numbers.

According to our source, who said the fine was 500,000 Sudanese pounds in the disbursement that started a week ago, no one gives a receipt for the payment.

Another Ethiopian resident of Khartoum claims that the influx of Ethiopians has occurred in the past, but that the pressure on all foreigners is now greater. According to sources, the majority of Ethiopians do not have residency permits, so the pressure is on Ethiopians.

It was learned that, previously, in 2022, when Ethiopian refugees asked for protection from the embassy in Khartoum, they were told by the embassy officials that “we cannot do anything because our diplomacy is broken.”