Foreign Workforce Asked To Register in Sudan

Foreigners working in Eastern Equatoria State have been asked to acquire work permits to check against illegal residents in the state.

In a circular issued by the Directorate of Labour and Industrial Relations in the Eastern Equatoria State Ministry of Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development dated 25/10/2010, the workers were asked to abide by the new directive in line with a GoSS Council of Ministers’ resolution that called for the move.

“You are strongly advised to come along with your passport size and other necessary documents such as passports, National ID card from your country of origin and any other identification documents. Your urgent turn up would be a solution to the upcoming heavy inspections planned “, reads part of the circular.

Apart from facilitating the foreigners to acquire work permits, the move also serves to legalise foreigners’ operations or presence besides establishing a database of working foreigners in the state.

“We have been instructed under a mandate of the resolution to carry out the registration but we are not issuing the permits ourselves. We are expecting GoSS officials in the labour sector in collaboration with the Ministry of Internal Affairs to come soon to issue the documents to the foreigners who will have already registered”, said the acting Director of the Directorate of Labour Dominic Oyom Agapito.

He said the work permit expected to be issued is categorised into two: casual and annual permits that are renewed annually.

“The circular targets those foreigners working in the government, NGOs and the private sector .The casual permit is granted to officials who are contracted for a shorter period say three or six months or more but less than a year while the annual permit is given to foreigners employed permanently or with prolonged appointment be it in the government, NGOs or the private sector”, he clarified.