Wednesday August 28, 2024
Mogadishu (HOL) — Somali government on Tuesday welcomed the return of 30 Somali youths who had been imprisoned in Port-Sudan, Sudan, for the past five months.
Somali Acting Ambassador to Sudan, Ahmed Abdi Hassan, told local media that the government, in collaboration with IOM, facilitated the release of the young men and women. He added that the efforts are now focused on locating 11 other teenagers who were reportedly abducted while travelling on a bus approximately 1,000 kilometres from Port Sudan.
advertisements
"We are actively pursuing the whereabouts of the 11 teenagers who were taken during the incident," Ambassador Hassan said. He thanked the IOM for its role in rescuing the young people trapped in Sudan amid the ongoing conflict.Sudan has been embroiled in violent clashes since April 15, 2023, when fighting erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The conflict has displaced over 10.2 million people, including internally displaced persons (IDPs), asylum seekers, and refugees, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Somalia began evacuating its citizens stranded in Sudan shortly after the conflict broke out. The first group of 18 Somali citizens was evacuated from Buluja, near Sudan's border with South Sudan, and arrived at Mogadishu's Aden Adde Airport on April 26, 2023.