Border protection for Europe: Sudanese Militia arrests 600 refugees

Sudan’s controversial RSF militia claims to have arrested 600 refugees from Ethiopia at the border between Libya and Egypt, stopping them from trying to reach Europe. On Tuesday, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) appealed to EU Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini to ensure that the detainees will not be sent back to their home country, where they would be facing torture, inhuman treatment and possibly even execution. “If the EU is willing to enter a controversial cooperation with Sudan regarding migration issues, thus allowing a gang of murderers and rapists to hunt down political persecution, it must at least be ensured that the refugees will not be deported into the hands of their persecutors,” said Ulrich Delius, the STP’s Africa consultant. The RSF are responsible for numerous crimes against the civilian population in Sudan’s civil war regions. The Sudanese government had decided that parts of the militia should be responsible for protecting the borders. In the scope of the cooperation with the EU, they are supposed to stop refugees from trying to reach Europe.

“We are deeply concerned about the wellbeing of the refugees from Ethiopia. Currently, thousands of young Oromo are on the run from their homes due to a wave of arrests. About 20,000 members of the persecuted minority have been arrested since November 2015. They are accused of taking part in mass protests against land grabbing and against a territorial reform in Ethiopia,” said Delius. “These Oromo must be protected.”

On Saturday, RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan Dagolo – also known as “Hemetti” – stated that his militia had arrested 600 Ethiopian refugees in the region of Al-Naheel in the Sahara and then handed them over to the authorities in North Darfur, from where they are to be sent back to their home country. In 2003, Hemetti, who belongs to the Arab population group of the Rizeigat in Darfur, had joined an alliance against insurgents in Darfur at the request of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. Back then, he had become one of the leaders of the infamous Janjaweed militia, which was responsible for genocide crimes. Today, he is brigadier-general of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF, founded in 2013), which – officially – report to the Sudanese NISS.

“Instead of addressing the causes of flight at the Horn of Africa, the European Commission is partly responsible for new human rights violations – and, rather than advocating for an end to the persecution of Oromo the in Ethiopia, the European Commission entered a strategic partnership with the authoritarian state in June 2016. Thus, the EU should not be surprised that more and more people from Ethiopia are trying to find refuge in Europe,” said Delius.