African refugees conference in al-Khartoum

Khartoum on Thursday urged the international community to support some 27 million refugees and evacuees in Africa. In a speech he delivered before the preliminary meeting for the conference on refugees in Africa due to start deliberations in al-Khartoum on Sunday.

The Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Othman Ismael added that the question of refugees should not be used as a pretext to interfere in the internal affairs of countries which gives shelter to those refugees. He described the question of the refugees as a humanitarian issue and called upon the international community to shoulder its responsibility in giving full backing to those refugees.

He urged the need of expelling fighters from camps in a way to ensure protection for the refugees. Some 42 African countries and 21 regional and international organizations are taking part in the said conference.