Eritrea and Sudan to reopen border crossings

Eritrea and Sudan to reopen border crossings

By Tesfalem Araia | BBC Tigrinya

Eritrea and Sudan have agreed to reopen border crossings following talks in Asmara between Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki and the deputy head of Sudan's Transitional Military Council, Lt-Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemeti.

Sudan had closed the border in 2018, citing concerns over illegal crossings and human trafficking.

On Tuesday, Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Meskel tweeted that the two sides had agreed to set up a "joint committee to chart the modalities and monitor the implementation of the agreement”.

The two sides further discussed progress of Eritrea-Sudan bilateral ties. In this respect, the two sides agreed to open the border between the two countries as well as on the formation of Joint Committee to chart out the modalities and monitor the implementation of the agreement pic.twitter.com/eH59KgdDOU

— Yemane G. Meskel (@hawelti) July 2, 2019

Diplomatic relations between the two countries had not been good under Sudan’s long-time leader Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted earlier this year.

There has been intensive shuttle diplomacy between Khartoum and Asmara in the last few weeks, and Eritrea has expressed strong support for the Transitional Military Council.

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