Sudan Events – Reports
The Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, met on Sunday with First Lieutenant General (Legal) Khaled Hassan Mohieddin, the Director-General of the Police Forces, in the presence of Major General (Legal) Othman Mohamed Al-Hassan Dinkawi, the Director of the General Administration of Passports and Immigration.
The meeting discussed the overall security situation, the police forces’ efforts to ensure security and stability, combat crime, and restore full services in areas from which the militia has been expelled and defeated, including the operations of the General Administration of Passports and Immigration.
In a press statement, Major General Dinkawi affirmed that the Passports and Immigration Administration operates with complete professionalism in issuing travel documents and all identification papers for citizens in full compliance with laws and regulations.
He highlighted the administration’s efforts in issuing identification documents during the ongoing war, expanding its services across several states and Sudanese embassies abroad, and deploying teams to facilitate passport issuance.
Dinkawi noted that secure states have been covered, and citizens have received identification documents in cities such as El-Obeid, En-Nahud, and El-Fasher.
He stated, “Every individual holding a national identification number is entitled to obtain a passport, regardless of political affiliation, unless there is a legal restriction issued by the relevant authorities under legal and judicial procedures.”
He further explained that before 2020, legal restrictions allowed citizens to obtain a passport as an identification document both inside and outside the country. “If a person was banned from traveling, it did not prevent them from obtaining identification documents,” he said. However, he pointed out that in 2020, under the Hamdok government, an amendment was made to the regulations, stipulating that authorities must not issue a passport to any Sudanese citizen listed under travel bans. As a result, individuals prohibited by law are now restricted from obtaining a passport, as it is considered a travel document rather than an identification document.
Major General Dinkawi added that if the restriction only applies to passport issuance and does not affect other identification documents, a legal amendment is necessary. Such an amendment would allow citizens to obtain identification papers, including passports, while enforcing travel bans only at designated border control points.
