Over 8,000 Sudanese illegal migrants arrived in Europe in 2016

WRITTEN BY KALAHAN DENG

November 24, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – More than eight thousands Sudanese have crossed the sea illegally into Europe during this year, said, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM)

IOM released on 18 November an infographic showing that the number of Sudanese who arrived by sea to Italy during January-August 2016 increased compared to the same period of 2015.

The international group said that between 1 January and 17 November 2016, 167,276 persons arrived to Italy by sea. Five percent of them are Sudanese.

” Compared to the same period in 2015, the number of arrivals from Sudan increased by about 13 per cent (from 7,131 to 8,066 arrivals),” said IOM.

However according to the Italian ministry of Interior, the number of Sudanese who arrived illegally has increased from 8,692 in 2015 to 9,033 people.

Those illegal migrants who arrived mainly from Libya move from Italy to France and then they head to Calais on the English Channel attempting to cross into the United Kingdom.

However, France recently closed the Calais camp and relocated its residents in different towns across the country.

Sudanese migrants are almost from Darfur region and unqualified.

Generally France grants them protection and give them residence permits. But recently a French court ordered to deport three Sudanese nationals after the closure of Calais camp.

when they were presented to the Sudanese consular service in Paris for identification, one of them refused to speak and was released. The two others would be deported to Sudan.

Amnesty International France said Wednesday that one of them, identified as Baker, would be put in a plane heading to Doha from where he would travel to Sudan.