EU-Sudan: A Cynical Division of Labor

On the collaboration of European imperialism with the Sudanese military in order to stop migration

By Michael Pröbsting, International Secretary of the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT), 9 July 2019, www.thecommunists.net

The European Union likes to present itself in public as a guardian of democracy and human rights. Hardly a week passes without EU officials in Brussels lecturing one country or another of the so-called Third World to behave “like a civilized nation”.

We have always denounced such presumptiveness as empty and hypocritical. The latest example of this is a revelation that illuminates the direct collaboration of the European Union with the military dictatorship in Sudan intended to stop migrants from coming to the self-proclaimed “old continent”. A broad alliance of mostly Sudanese and Eritrean human rights groups has published an open letter to the EU Commission elucidating the role of European Council president, Donald Tusk, in farming out its migrant policy to countries known for systematic abuses, including Sudan. The signatories state: “During your term as president of the European Council, the European Union and its member states have externalised migration policy through direct and indirect cooperation with regimes and militia forces that are entirely unaccountable.” [1]

According to a report by the Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’ at least 160 million Euros were allocated to Sudan in 2016-17. [2] A significant share of this went to the notorious Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo, known as Hemeti. This is the force that has been central in the brutal oppression of ethnic minorities in Darfur as well as directly responsible for the killing hundreds of protesters in the recent months.

General Hemeti is fully aware of his role and repeatedly reminds the EU that it needs him. In a recent public speech he clearly asserted that: “[The RSF] protects the Europeans from the influx of millions of irregular migrants. We work on behalf of the Europeans, we protect their national security.” [3]

How true the general speaks! The worst butchers in Sudan “work on behalf of the Europeans and protect their national security”. They brutally arrest, rape, or kill refugees who are fleeing the tragic conditions in their home countries. [4]

Meanwhile, the European governments “critically monitor the human rights situation” in Sudan and wag their fingers. But in reality they are very happy to have such efficient and effective henchmen as General Hemeti do their dirty work. [5]

In fact, such a cynical division of labor between “democratic” Europe and a slew of brutal dictators in Africa and the Middle East is a long-standing enterprise. Let us provide just a few recent examples. In October 2010, the European Union signed a deal with the Gaddafi regime. It paid the dictator 50 million Euro “to combat the flow of illegal migrants to Europe”. [6] Of course, the European imperialists miscalculated because a few months after signing the deal the Libyan masses rose up and overthrew the dictatorship. Since then the European paymasters have worked hard to “stabilize” Libya so that it can more effectively resume its intended role as a migrant buffer. [7]

In September 2018, the leaders of the European Union held an informal EU summit in Salzburg to which they invited General Sisi, the butcher of Cairo. [8] There they announced the plan for "in-depth cooperation" with the Egyptian military. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, whose country held the EU's rotating presidency at that time, said: "Egypt and the North African countries can be important partners for us in preventing ships heading to Europe and after their rescue being brought back, in other words to the countries of transit. (...) Only in this way can we reduce illegal migration, can we destroy the business model of the smugglers, and stop drownings in the Mediterranean. (...) "We've got to ensure that as few people as possible leave northern African countries for Europe. If they do, the situation should be dealt with as close to the African coast as possible." Kurz also praised the regime of General Sisi: “Egypt is efficient. Egypt has served as an example when it comes to illegal migration and people smuggling.” [9]

What a glaring example of the cynical collaboration of “democratic” imperialists and dictators in semi-colonial countries in safeguarding the interests of the monopoly capitalists!

All of this does not come as a surprise. We Marxists have always emphasized that the EU’s lectures about “democracy and human rights” originate in the hypocritical foundations of European imperialism. Yes, there are more bourgeois-democratic liberties in Europe than in many other countries. This is because Western Europe belongs to the one of the richest regions of the world, based precisely on the super-profits of imperialism. The imperialist ruling classes have funded the luxury of bourgeois democratic norms by utilizing these super-profits to pacify important sections of European society. (Naturally, this does not exclude brutal police attacks against mass protests like the “Yellow Vests” in France or the independence movements in the Basque country or Catalonia.)

However, one of the most important reasons why Western Europe has become so wealthy is the long and brutal history of colonialism. While direct colonial rule hardly exists today, the imperialist Great Powers continue to squeeze enormous profits by indirectly dominating the formally independent, semi-colonial countries of the South.

The result of this obscene system is that the “democratic” imperialist powers have, for decades, cultivated the collaboration of various dictatorships in the semi-colonial countries. For their services, these dictators have been rewarded with substantial payments from European governments. In short, the European corporations and governments, as well as the Arab dictators, need and support each other. It is an alliance of robbers and killers based on an extremely reactionary division of labor!