A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #366 - International - Sudan: Europe Complicit in a War (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

For over two years, Sudan has been embroiled in a conflict between two 
armed forces backed by foreign interests. Hundreds of thousands have 
died, millions have been displaced, and the region has been militarized, 
a situation fueled by European policies. ---- In April 2023, the 
conflict erupted in Khartoum between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) - the 
regular army - and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) - a paramilitary 
group. General Al-Burhan and General Hamdan Dagalo "Hemetti," working 
hand in hand, brutally suppressed the 2019 revolution that led to the 
fall of Islamist dictator Omar al-Bashir, who had been in power for over 
30 years. Once loyal allies of the dictator, then accomplices for a time 
in suppressing the revolutionaries and seizing power through a 2021 coup 
that marked a victory for the counter-revolution, the two men and their 
groups are now fighting each other for power and control of resources. 
The external economic, material, technological, and human support 
received by both sides (primarily from the United Arab Emirates and 
Libya for the RSF, and from Egypt, Iran, and Turkey for the SAF) has 
largely contributed to the stalemate in the conflict.

In two and a half years, the conflict has spread to all parts of the 
country, dragging the Sudanese population into a spiral of unprecedented 
violence. The death toll is estimated at 150,000 (a figure impossible to 
confirm, likely much higher), with 12 million people forcibly displaced 
(4.2 million refugees outside the country and 7.2 million internally 
displaced persons) and 30 million people in need of humanitarian 
assistance - more than 50% of the population[1]: the conflict is 
currently considered the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

More than 12 million refugees have been displaced. Nearly 4 million have 
left the country.

VOA/Henry Wilkins
Darfur: A Martyred Region That Gave Birth to the RSF
Following the Darfur War (2003-2020), the region is once again the scene 
of accusations of genocide and ethnic cleansing, notably in Geneina and 
Ardamatta (in 2023) in West Darfur and in Zamzam and El Fasher (in 2025) 
in the North. El Fasher, the historical capital of the Darfur Sultanate 
and the army's last stronghold, fell to the RSF in October. This region, 
roughly the size of France and the historical birthplace of the militias 
that became the Syrian Arab Forces (SAF), was long marginalized by the 
central government and was shaken by rebellions in the 2000s. To crush 
them, the al-Bashir regime deployed the Janjaweed militias, supported by 
the regular army (SAF), leading to massacres, bombings, the destruction 
of villages, and the forced and mass displacement of populations. Many 
of the militia leaders from that time, as well as al-Bashir himself, are 
wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and 
crimes against humanity (murder, forced displacement, rape, etc.).

Since the beginning of the current conflict, Darfur has been one of the 
hardest-hit areas in the country. For more than two years, Darfuris have 
been living without public services, electricity, running water, or 
telephone or internet access (except for satellite). The region alone is 
home to approximately 4 million internally displaced persons and remains 
plagued by campaigns of ethnic cleansing, the destruction of villages, 
looting, forced displacement, mass rape used as a weapon of war, and 
forced recruitment, particularly of children.

The "Khartoum Process"
In 2014, the European Union (EU) signed an agreement with countries in 
the Horn of Africa for "better cooperation on migration and human 
trafficking." This agreement, known as the "Khartoum Process," has the 
stated objective of "improving the living conditions of migrants on 
migration routes" and, above all, of "strengthening the capacities" of 
transit states, such as Sudan, in the "fight against immigration." 
Within this framework, the EU, through the EU Trustfund for Africa, 
disbursed EUR30 million for the Better Migration Management Program, 
primarily dedicated to border control and migration management.

Around the same time, the Janjaweed militias were gradually reorganized 
and renamed the FSR. In 2017, they were integrated into the regular SAF 
army with a special status. However, at Sudan's various particularly 
"sensitive" borders (Chad, Egypt, Libya), it is precisely the FSR that 
has been the main force deployed to "combat human trafficking" on behalf 
of the EU since 2015-2016. As such, the Sudanese Forces (SFR) benefit 
from support including the provision of security and border surveillance 
equipment (delivered to a dictatorial regime known for systematically 
controlling, monitoring, and suppressing its population), as well as 
"capacity-building" training as Border Guards[2].

European funds were channeled through United Nations agencies 
(particularly the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for 
Refugees and the International Organization for Migration), which can 
directly fund certain Sudanese ministries. The EU thus financed the 
strengthening of border control under the authority of a dictator wanted 
by the International Criminal Court, even though it was clearly 
established and publicly stated that the FSR was responsible for this 
border control. It is largely thanks to this agreement that Hemetti was 
able to increase his influence through the provision of equipment, 
training, and financial compensation. For example, purchase orders for 
several hundred Toyota pickup trucks were submitted to the EU. He was 
also able to gain political clout. On several occasions in 2016, he 
threatened the EU with reopening borders if European funds were not 
increased. Staged scenes in the Sudanese media depicting the capture of 
migrants by the FSR[3]caused some embarrassment at the EU level, but did 
not lead to any suspension of funding. The FSR engages in outright human 
trafficking: first migrants, and now Sudanese men and women in the areas 
under their control, are captured, and their families are ransomed under 
threat of torture or murder, which payment is generally insufficient to 
prevent.

The migration policies of Fortress Europe, coldly concocted in Brussels, 
are directly responsible for the militarization and demilitarization of 
an entire region, as well as for the destabilization of an entire 
society. They constitute a veritable apparatus of war against peoples, 
in which the lives of millions of individuals are considered mere 
variables to be adjusted in the defense of the interests of European 
states. It is more incumbent upon us than ever to fight them until they 
have been completely defeated.

Camille (UCL Paris Nord-Est) and Boggy

Submit

[1]Data from the UNHCR.

[2]Suliman Baldo, "Border Control from Hell: How the EU's migration 
partnership legitimizes Sudan's 'militia state'", The Enough Project, 2017.

[3]"Human rights impacts and risks associated with the Khartoum 
process", Amnesty International, 2016.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Soudan-L-Europe-complice-d-une-guerre
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