CAIRO — On Nov. 16, after four consecutive meetings with all concerned parties, the Cairo "Declaration of Unification" of Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) was signed at the headquarters of the Egyptian General Intelligence under the auspices of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni. The parties agreed that the General Intelligence would follow up on the implementation of the items included in the agreement, without disclosing more details.

Following the signing, the Egyptian state agency said in a statement that the document will allow for the return of Sudanese refugees to their countries and internally displaced persons to their areas of origin under the supervision of the Egyptian intelligence.

Observers described the agreement as a successful move to heal the rift and end the ongoing South Sudanese conflict. But it raises many questions, especially since Cairo was not involved in the past in the unification of the SPLM to put an end to the conflict that has been ongoing since the South Sudanese Civil War erupted in December 2013 between the government forces of South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit and supporters of his former first deputy, Riek Machar. Thousands of civilians have been killed and millions have fled to neighboring countries.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, about 1,800 refugees from South Sudan arrived daily in Uganda in the past year, and they now account for 1 million people. There are another 1 million South Sudanese refugees spread in Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.