Omar Al Bashir "has allegedly caused the displacement of millions of people in order to curb migration." Wikimedia/Jesse B. Awalt. Some rights reserved. Journalists from the leading German magazine Der Spiegel are reporting a secret deal made in March among EU member states and African countries – including Sudan – to curb immigration through these countries towards Europe. The plan could include aid to Eritrea’s government, who the UN accuses of committing crimes against humanity, including holding hundreds of thousands as slaves. According to Der Spiegel reporters, the project would apparently provide the government of Sudan, under president Omar Al Bashir, with “cameras, scanners and servers for registering refugees to the Sudanese regime in addition to training their border police and assisting with the construction of two camps with detention rooms for migrants.” The German government would allegedly head these efforts with a budget of €40 million for multiple African countries.
An EU spokesperson has reportedly denied that the project is being implemented in Sudan, but did not deny the authenticity of the documents. The EU has recently made other agreements aimed at decreasing immigration, including with Turkey. MSF announced that it will not seek further EU funds to support its vital operations to protest the EU’s migration policies.
If the Der Spiegel report proves to be accurate, the EU should cancel this agreement with Sudan and potentially other autocratic governments because of the harm it will likely cause, and because of the harms the EU might prevent if they spend the funds in ways that could contribute to alleviating the plight of many oppressed people throughout Africa. It is paradoxical, to say the least, to work with a man who himself has allegedly caused the displacement of millions of people in order to curb migration. Why should EU representatives trust Bashir to responsibly use the tools they might provide to him?
