Ethiopia has pledged to beef up security at its borders with South Sudan to address waves of insecurity.

An Ethiopian delegation led by the speaker of the House of People’s Representatives, Tagesse Chaffo, made this pledge in a meeting with President Salva Kiir on Tuesday.

“The meeting [was] centred on security issues in the regions bordering South Sudan and Ethiopia. The delegation also discussed issues pertaining to cattle rustling, child abduction, infrastructure development, and border trade in the areas bordering South Sudan and Ethiopia,” the statement from the office of the President stated.

Chaffo said the two countries would form a joint committee that would be tasked with settling disputes that might arise.

“We have exchanged information and discussed how to work closely for the common goods of the two countries, we are going to form a joint forum to discuss problems whenever they arise,” said Tagesses, as quoted by the president’s press unit.

The delegation comprised the President of Gambella Region Omod Ujulu, the President of Benishagul Ashadli Hassan, the Director-General for IGAD Countries Feseha Shawel, and the Ambassador of Ethiopia to South Sudan Nabil Mahdi.

Sealing borders

Last week, the Director-General of Civil Registry, Nationality, Passports and Immigration, Lt Gen Atem Marol Biar, unveiled the initiative to seal all the borders in a bid to fight human trafficking.

He said the borders occupied by SPLM/A-IO had illegal openings which should be closed to end the smuggling of people and goods.

“Borders should be closed because currently most of the borders have open areas where people can sneak inside, especially the borders occupied by SPLM/A-IO,” he said.

Lt Gen Atem said they were in the process of opening the Ethiopian border, which would begin with a joint training session with the Ethiopian immigration officers.

“We will meet with the Ethiopian Minister of Interior so that we can jointly train officers at Gambella prior to the opening of the border,” he stated.

But before this, the Ethiopian embassy in South Sudan vowed to cooperate with the government to curb human trafficking.

This was after the directorate caught four Eritreans that were smuggled into the country from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Juba.