Juba - South Sudan faces diverse migration and mobility challenges, as it is both a country of origin and destination. It is also a country of migration-transit, as some people enter South Sudan only temporarily with the prospect of moving to other final destinations. Transit migration in the country is intertwined with human trafficking, as the country is situated along the Southern route with migrants entering from Ethiopia as well as migrants taking the western migration route to Libya.

To address South Sudan’s migration challenges, 10 Government ministers convened in the capital Juba and signed a Communique on Migration Governance as part of efforts to promote human and dignified migration.

“The Government of South Sudan takes migration governance seriously as it’s affects us directly or indirectly considering our own fragilities as we continue to receive migrants from neighboring countries who have their own fragilities,” said   Dr. Elia Lomuro, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs. He added that “this Inter- Ministerial summit is a great milestone for the government,” saying that the government would add it into its annual report as part of the achievement. it would be added to the government’s annual report as part of its achievements.

The Communique calls on the government of South Sudan to ratify and domesticate United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and its supplementary protocol as well as to improve border management, labor migration, forced migration and diaspora engagements.

The Communique has 15 action points taking note of the gaps in migration governance along the thematic priorities of border management and facilitating free movement of persons, labour and forced migration with emphasis on returnees, internally displaced persons, and victims of trafficking in persons for the line ministries to implement during the calendar year 2023/2025.

The Inter-Ministerial summit brought together technocrats, experts, and policy makers from the Ministries of Interior, Labour, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Commission of Refugee Affairs, National Bureau of Statistics, Security services and academia/thinktanks for a three-day dialogue to deliberate and come up with the action points to feed into the Migration Governance Policy in South Sudan.

“Migration, despite often being perceived negatively, is an intrinsic aspect of human existence. People often migrate in search of opportunities, fleeing natural calamities or due to circumstances created by human actions,” said Hon. Angelina Teni, South Sudan’s Minister of Interior.

Under the regional Better Migration Management (BMM) programme, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) continues to support the efforts of the Government of South Sudan to put in place a system that will promote humane and orderly migration in the country. The programme, co-funded by the European Union Trust Fund for Africa and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and managed by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) was developed to improve migration management, and, to address Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants from and within the East and Horn of Africa region.

“The European Union (EU)’s approach to migration governance is whole of government and whole of society approach, and in this endeavor, the EU Commission has earmarked € 46 million to foster dialogues on Migration such as the Khartoum process for the benefit of all” said H.E. Timo Olkkonen, the Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of South Sudan.

South Sudan is a beneficiary of Better Migration Management’s third phase co funded by the German Office of International Development (BMZ) and managed by GIZ through implementing partners such as IOM and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

“We are happy that through this gathering, the government of South Sudan has come up with remedies to tackle migration challenges within the country,” said Dr. Bjorn Niere, German Deputy Head of Mission.

“IOM has been providing technical support and will continue to assist the National Coordination Mechanism on Migration to support the government’s response to migration management. This way, we will ensure there is a safe, orderly, and humane migration for all,” John McCue, IOM South Sudan’s Acting Chief of Mission noted.   

“This assistance is in the provision of technical support and facilitation of NCM through coordination meetings and strategic planning, supporting taskforce on counter-trafficking in persons monthly and strategic intervention, awareness raising sessions with parliamentarians on legal gaps related to combating trafficking, and developing a border security strategy” John McCue.

The Better Migration Management is implemented by IOM, UNODC, CIVIPOL and the British Council.

For more information, kindly contact Nabie Loyce in IOM South Sudan, Tel: +211921708535, Email: nloyce@iom.int