440 Eritreans deported from Sudan

Outraged by the arrest and deportation of hundreds of Eritrean refugees from Sudan, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) demands the EU to question its cooperation with the Sudanese government in the scope of the refugee crisis. “The EU must make sure that its cooperation with the East African state does not encourage refugees being deported into a dictatorship – this would be inhumane,” said the STP’s Africa consultant, Ulrich Delius, in Göttingen on Wednesday. In April 2016, EU Development Commissioner Neven Mimica had promised Sudan 140 million Euros for projects that are supposed to keep refugees from Eritrea in the region and stop them from migrating to Europe.

During the past week and a half, 900 Eritrean refugees and 400 Eritreans who were on their way to Libya were arrested in the Sudanese capital. More than 440 of these refugees were then deported – despite them facing draconian punishment in their home country. In Eritrea, people who try to escape the country are punished with imprisonment, torture and forced labor – and Christians are persecuted because of their faith.

“Apparently, Khartoum is trying to reinforce the cooperation with the EU with its brutal actions against the refugees,” criticized Delius. “The aspect of securing the border between Sudan to Eritrea shows how problematic the envisaged cooperation between the EU and the German development organization “Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit” (GIZ) actually is.” The envisaged cooperation, which had become known in May 2016, includes plans to provide equipment as well as training for Sudanese border guards.

“The way the Sudanese authorities are treating the refugees can be seen as a serious violation of the Geneva Convention of 1951, which the state signed in 1974. Article 33 of the Convention obliges the signatories not to deport refugees to a country in which they have to fear for their life or their physical integrity because of their political opinions or religious belief,” criticized Delius. “If Eritrean refugees are denied protection, this means ignoring the fact that the United Nations are accusing Eritrea of crimes against humanity and a plethora of other serious human rights violations.”

The STP’s worst fears regarding the so-called Khartoum Process (the official term for the EU’s cooperation with East Africa regarding the refugee crisis) seem to have come true. The human rights organization had warned about a situation like this for months, as Sudan is guilty of human rights violations as well – in Khartoum, in Darfur and the Nuba Mountains. Thus, the STP emphasizes that the country cannot be a credible partner of the EU. 

Header Photo: © EU/ECHO/Anouk Delafortrie via Flickr