The South Sudan and Sudan Joint Border Commission has begun its meeting in Juba to finalize the resolutions to the contentious border issues between the two countries.

The contested borders between South Sudan and Sudan include Abyei, Kaka El Tijariya, Debbat El Fukhar/Megenes Mountains, Bahr El Arab, and Kafia Kingi/Hafrat El Nukhas, and others.

The Minister of Information Michael Makuei— who also serves as the co-chair of the borders commission on the South Sudan side—said the resumption of the meeting was a critical step to discussing and resolving the border issue once and for all.

Makuei made the remarks during the opening session of the meeting in Juba on Monday

“Today’s meeting is very important, it is important because this is the starting point of real deliberations on the issues of course since 2013.

 “We have been sitting, deliberating but there had never been anybody to say this is because we have been on and off, fluctuating between agreeing and disagreeing all this time,” Makuei said.

In June, the two countries exchanged views on the documents and each country was to prove their right based on January 1, 1956, British colonial borders demarcation, the head of the joint border commission of Sudan Maaz Tango said.

Confident on breakthrough

Makuei described the meeting of the commission in Khartoum earlier this year as one of the meetings where parties were able to submit their positions.

He pointed out that the delay to resolve the border issue was due to failure by parties to the negotiating table to submit their real position right from the beginning of the first meeting in 2013.

“This was only done in our last meeting, the 8th meeting in Khartoum. This is where we submitted the positions of the two parties,” he stressed.

Makuei said the ongoing 9th meeting being held in Juba would provide a final solution to the border issue to ensure peaceful existence at the contested borders.

“I hope this position will not change again and take us backward but forward and hope from that meeting onwards; we will be moving with the long strides to come up with the final solutions that will bring peace and peaceful co-existence to our people at the borders,” he assured. 

The two countries have signed an agreement on the full demarcation of the boundaries in Addis Ababa in October 2019 mediated by African Union Boundary Commission.

Meanwhile, the chair of Sudan joint border commission Dr. Moaz Ahmed affirmed the commitment of Sudan to cooperate with South Sudan to ensure the outstanding issues are resolved.