ICC NOTE: The European Union have been offering billions in Euros to African governments in an attempt at stopping the flow of refugees to Europe. Of those nations accepting financial incentives are Sudan, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. All three nations have been considered human rights violators and are of the many nations seeing large portions of their population attempting to enter Europe. Those fleeing from these countries are typically doing so due to the level or religious persecution they face from the governments. This has not been the first time Europe has attempted to alleviate situations in African nations as the Khartoum Process in November of 2014 attempting to stop human smuggling by offering financial and economic support to countries in the region. As a result much of the funding was put in the hands of human rights violators like the Eritrean dictator Afwerki and Sudanese President Al-Bashir.
11/15/2015 Africa (The Guardian) – African governments have been offered €1.8bn to help stem the flow of refugees to Europe. Yet the migrants European leaders want to “send back” are in many cases fleeing the governments the EU is now collaborating with.
It could almost be satire. Amongst those present at the Malta summit in Valletta were Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia – widely condemned for their disregard of human rights.
In Sudan, for example, according to the High Commission for Refugees there are 400,000 internally displaced people in Darfur, thanks to continued conflict between rebel groups and government forces. A further 6.9 million people are in need for humanitarian assistance. By the end of 2015, the UN estimates there could be up to 460,000 refugees in Sudan alone.
For many in Sudan, smuggling and trafficking has become a lucrative business. Reliable sources in the country allege that many National Intelligence and Security Service officers have been involved in human smuggling for financial gain. The security force are also alleged to be involved in trafficking operations in eastern Sudan and Darfur, transporting refugees up in to Libya.
Amnesty International was quick to point out these contradictions, arguing that the EU should not cooperate with those guilty of grave human rights abuses. “With the EU seemingly intent on enlisting African nations as proxy gatekeepers, the Valetta summit is likely to result in a one-sided border control contract dressed up as a cooperation agreement. Refugees and migrants deserve and are entitled to better,” said Iverna McGowan, acting director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office.
To date, there has been no evidence that the EU’s previous financial incentives to Omar al-Bashir’s government have made any positive impact on the crisis, so why will they now?
