For over two years, Sudan has been embroiled in a conflict between two
armed forces backed by foreign interests. Hundreds of thousands havedied, 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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