Issue #: 3297, Issue Date: 10th July, 2014

(KHARTOUM)  – A Sudanese court ordered the 600 people who attempted recently to migrate illegally to Libya to pay a fine or serve several months in jail after being rescued by the army last week.

The total amount of fines sentenced by the North Sudan’s Dongola tribunal reached 40,000 Sudanese pound ($4,800). The courts also ordered to repatriate the foreigners, mostly Eritreans and Ethiopians to their respective countries.

A joint Sudanese Libyan border force rescued last week over six hundreds illegal migrants and transported them to Dongola, capital of North state.
The Sudanese authorities said traffickers had abandoned them in the desert in miserable conditions.

Police authorities in Dongola said a significant number of the victims are Eritrean and Ethiopian.
Sudanese and East African nationals used in the past to go to Israel or apply for asylum in Western countries from Egypt.
However, Libya becomes recently a favourite destination for immigrants who want to reach Europe by boats through the Mediterranean Sea.
Last June, Libyan guards killed a dozen migrants who had illegally crossed the border from Sudan.

ST