BRUSSELS, Belgium, October 22, 2015/APO (African Press Organization)/ —
A European delegation completed a one day visit to Kassala on 22 October 2015. The delegation was composed of the heads of diplomatic missions from the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The European diplomats met with Mr. Musa Mohamed Ahmed, Assistant to the President, Kassala Wali and the government, tribal and religious leaders, representatives of the international organizations and visited refugees at the Wad Shareify Camp. The visit included a UNICEF school funded by the European Union.
Ambassador Tomas Ulicny, Head of Delegation of the European Union said the European Union announced support of 24 million euro at the International Donors and Investors Conference for East Sudan in Kuwait in December 2010. Since then, the EU more than tripled the support to the region with the provision of more than 79.5 million euro starting as of 2011, and additional 6 million euro ar plor 2016.
The main areas of EU humanitarian aid and development cooperation in Kassala are in food security, migration, health, education, democracy, human rights, and cooperation with civil society and local authorities. The ongoing EU projects in the state exceed 13.8 million euro. Many EU member states provide additional support in similar areas. Among others, Italian Cooperation with EU support is implementing a health project in three states of Eastern Sudan in the value of 13.1 Million Euros and United Kingdom DFID is supporting a resilience project worth 13.3 Million British Pounds.
“The European Union has fully implemented its commitments to support peace and stability in East Sudan, and has tripled its announced support. All other parties should commit to their pledges to strengthen peace and stability in the Eastern region”. “The causes for human smuggling and trafficking are linked to the low development rates in East Sudan in particular and the Horn of Africa in general”. “The European Union recognises the provision of services and facilitation provided by the government of Sudan to the incoming influx of migrants”. “More cooperation between Sudan and European Union is needed to protect asylum seekers, improve border management, confront smuggling and provide meaningful alternatives to the migrants and the host communities.”
