The Federal Government has explained why it is profiling some people in Sudan before evacuation to Nigeria.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Dr. Nasir Sani-Gwarzo explained that the profiling which is not intended to put them on criminal list would aid the Federal Government to categorise the evacuees.
He also announced a committee has been set up in Sudan to ensure proper profiling.
Sani-Gwarzo disclosed this in Abuja on Monday while giving an update on the evacuation of stranded Nigerians from Sudan.
He noted that 95 percent of the 2,518 Nigerians who were evacuated are students.
He however said asides those in Sudan, 29 other Nigerians are in Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and South Sudan awaiting to be evacuated.
He also said the figure of Nigerians to be profiled which was put at 160 on Sunday has increased.
Speaking on the profiling, the Permanent Secretary said: “We do have another category of Nigerians that remains behind. Whether Nigerians are resident of Sudan or some of them that were recent travelers, we have several categories of Nigerians that are resident in Sudan.
“There are people that are recent travelers who wanted to come back home and were evacuated. Some people have been in Sudan for several years, dating back some hundreds of years, from family to family, from generation to generation. So for such, we have some of them who want to come back.
“We have a committee that is profiling them in Sudan. And they will be brought back home to safety. Just like the students have all been brought back home.
“We realized that most people are now moving to Sudan to ask to be airlifted. Some have no documents, and no identity cards. You will meet somebody who has been in Sudan for 10 to 20 years and who has lost every touch with his documents and just coming up to say I’m in Nigeria. If you are the immigration officer, would you just pick that person up? So that’s why we’re profiling and when we say profiling, the first thing is criminal profiling, no.
“To be sure that they are Nigerians to be sure of where to categorize them because when they come in, in technical parlance, there’s a difference between a refugee and a displaced person. All those determine how we’re going to interact with them. If they are Nigerians and we bring them back home, they are called displaced persons but if they are not Nigerians and we bring them back to Nigeria, their status is not displaced but they are refugees. So all these technicalities are what we are looking at.
“For the last 24 hours, we have been communicating with them and we are providing them with food. That is why when you told me NEMA has declared 160, that is an old figure of yesterday or the day before yesterday and the figure keeps changing because more people are coming.
“Some people may have just traveled and their documents have been stolen but they still want to come back home l, for such it’s very easy to give them an ETC. But some people have been in Sudan for generations. Now there is an opportunity to come back home so they will want to come and such people when you bring them back home, they will have to look for where their ancestors are, where is their hometown. So that’s why we’re doing the profiling.
“It is not to put them on a criminal list, it is to help the refugees commission, NEMA, MFA, Nigeria Immigration Service to clearly situate them and when they come this is what is their entitlement based on their categories. So that is the main reason, it is not that we are criminalising them.”
On other Nigerians in other countries, he said: “45 of the Nigerians in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, have already been repatriated, with only 13 individuals remaining, and prompt efforts are underway to bring them home.
“In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, they are 31 Nigerians but they have returned, except for nine, and seven individuals are in South Sudan who will reunite with their families.
“Notably, all 800 travelers who transited through Egypt have successfully returned home, leaving no pending cases”
He also said alternative arrangements would be made for the students who are interested in furthering their education elsewhere to transition.
“We discovered many of them were in their final years and were about to write their examination. We will support them through the consultative forum to take part in decision-making and for them to transition into other options that may be available.”
He also said Nigerians who are interested in evacuation should find their way to Port Sudan where embassy staff are to screen them.
