{"id":20104939,"date":"2024-10-24T11:35:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-24T09:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/?p=20104939"},"modified":"2024-11-19T10:05:58","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T09:05:58","slug":"sudan-finance-minister-softens-stance-over-adre-border-crossing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/sudan-finance-minister-softens-stance-over-adre-border-crossing","title":{"rendered":"Sudan finance minister softens stance over Adr\u00e9 border crossing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Finance Minister Jibril Ibrahim has seemed to soften his stance regarding closing the Adr\u00e9 border crossing between Sudan and Chad, following a heated exchange earlier this week between him and US officials. The crossing is set to close in November unless a new agreement is reached.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ibrahim, Sudanese finance minister and leader of a Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF)-aligned<\/a> Justice and Equality Movement faction (JEM-JI), stipulated two \u201cstrict\u201d conditions upon which the Adr\u00e9 crossing, crucial for aid deliveries and refugee movements between Chad and Sudan, could remain open. In a post on X on Tuesday, he stated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/GebreilIbrahim1\/status\/1848708626069778567\n<\/div>
Finance minister Jibril Ibrahim sets two conditions to keep Adr\u00e9 border crossing with Chad open (@GebreilIbrahim1 via X)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As previously reported by Dabanga, Ibrahim initially asserted that the Adr\u00e9 border crossing should be promptly closed \u201ctoday before tomorrow”<\/a>, accusing it of being a \u201cmain conduit for lethal weapons\u201d aiding the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three days prior to setting Jibril softening his stance, Tom Perriello, the US Special Envoy to Sudan, accused Sudan’s Humanitarian Aid Commission<\/a> (HAC)\u2014linked to the SAF\u2014of imposing “bureaucratic barriers” that delay humanitarian aid for over seven million Sudanese in need, calling for the border crossing to remain open<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/StateDeptSpox\/status\/1848446165685309898\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The same day, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller echoed Perriello\u2019s statement via X, urging the Sudanese government to keep the crossing open past November 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is worth noting that the Sudanese finance minister was in Washington DC, the capital of the United States, on Tuesday to attend a World Bank meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RSF controls West Darfur<\/a>, where the Sudanese side of the Adr\u00e9 crossing is located. RSF spokesperson Basha Tabig criticised the Sudanese government\u2019s position, arguing the government is “giving away what is not theirs to give\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese obstacles that the Port Sudan government is putting in place are deliberate to starve the Sudanese people and amount to collective punishment\u201d, he said on<\/a> X yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crucial route<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sudanese government had agreed in August<\/a> to open the Adr\u00e9 crossing for three months, with its closure scheduled for November. While the United Nations and aid agencies rely on the crossing<\/a> to deliver aid, international reports claim it is also used to smuggle weapons to the RSF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, a damning investigation<\/a>, published by The<\/em> New York Times<\/em> on September 25, detailed how the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is smuggling weapons across the Chad-Sudan border under the guise of the humanitarian aid organisation and counterpart of the Red Cross, Emirates Red Crescent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Adr\u00e9 crossing has been a crucial route for Darfuris in particular, allowing thousands to flee RSF-led violence in West Darfur<\/a> last year, which the Human Rights Watch (HRW) has described as an \u201cethnic cleansing<\/a>\u201d. More than 862,000 people<\/a> have fled Sudan to Chad since the war started in mid-April 2023, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).<\/p>\n