Sudan issues ID cards to South Sudanese for work, access to services

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Wednesday 04 Mar 2015 - 12:56 Makkah mean time-13-5-1436 South Sudanese queuing to register for ID cards. Photo: UNHCR Khartoum (IINA) – The Sudanese government has launched a program under a UN-backed initiative to register South Sudanese nationals living in Sudan and to issue them identity cards that give them the right to work and access to basic services. So far, 54,000 out of an estimated half a million South Sudanese living in Sudan have been registered and 37,000 identity cards have been issued since the start of the program on February 1, after an agreement was concluded between the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), Sudanese Commissioner for Refugees and the Directorate General of Passports and Immigration in December 2014, according to a press release published Tuesday on UNHCR site. The program, which is financially and technically supported by UNHCR, ensures that the South Sudanese nationals residing in Sudan, who are older than five years of age, are given identity cards for the duration of their residency. The ID cards grant them the same rights and access to services as Sudanese citizens, including the right to buy property, move around freely and to live anywhere in the country. The majority of South Sudanese residing in Sudan have been present since secession in 2011. Their numbers increased to nearly 500,000 when the South Sudan’s conflict erupted in December 2013, forcing 120,000 people to flee their country across the border to Sudan. AB/IINA