The Judas Face of Europe: What Can You Do With Thirty Coins of Silver? The EU and Refugees once again
The Judas Face of Europe: What Can You Do With
Thirty Coins of Silver? The EU and Refugees Once Again
Amgad Fareid Eltayeb
According to the
biblical narrative,
thirty coins of silver was the price for which Judas betrayed Jesus and handed him over to the temple priests. According to the same narrative, these
exact thirty coins of silver were used later to buy a graveyard, after the remorse
made Judas return them back to the priests before committing suicide by hanging.
The priests decided it is a price of blood thus can not
be used for holy or noble purposes, so they used it to buy a graveyard for
strangers; Haceldama;
the field of blood, as it is called until today. Europe is now using another
thirty silver coins to buy a new Haceldama for the black migrants and refugees
coming from Africa.
Thirty silvers
was also the price to buy a human slave two thousand years ago. It is almost
equivalent to 600 USD of today’s money, which is the average price to buy a
slave in the modern human auctions. Recently, CNN broadcasted an investigative
report[1]
that revealed the full-scale return of slave trade to the world. The
investigation of the CNN anchor Nima Elbagir contained video footage of human
auction that took place in Libya, in which bidders’ voices are heard putting
prices for buying slaves for prices that are not more than 400 USD for some.
African refugees are the commodity in these auctions. Young people from
Ethiopia, Eretria, Sudan, Somalia, Chad, Nigeria and Niger to the end of the
long list of the failed projects of post-colonial state in Africa, who are
trying to escape some of the worst humanitarian and despotic situations, are
the victims of this crime. They are being sold, over and over, repeatedly until
they are damaged “goods” for their “sin” in attempting to escape
tyranny and sufferings. They are being punished for trying to enjoy their basic
human right of refuging and seeking asylum. The Classical Liberal, Pro-Market,
Increasingly Conservative British Newspaper “The Independent” did not shy of
referring to them as (sleepwalking)[2]
while the rest of the world is walking up to the crisis in Libya. According to
The Independent, it seems to be a behavioural disorder now to seek a human
right that is provided for by the rules of international law and global
agreements. What Bethan McKernan (the
writer of the Independent article)[3]
is not getting on his piece celebrating the West’s outrageous reaction to the
CNN report is that it is not a choice for these migrants -as he described them-
to travel out of their countries. They are not tourists or adventurer travellers who are sleepwalking their
way to Libya slave markets ignoring the dangers. They already know that they are
risking their lives escaping from situations that would definitely cost them
their lives. They are risking presumable dangers to avoid a definite misery. Because simply they are not migrants, as he perceives
or trying to make the reader perceive. They are refugees and Asylum seekers, which
is a right for all human who are in danger and a darker colour of skin does not
take this right away. This change of discourse in referring to the African
refugees is very serious. It gradually creates a
new reality in which refugees rights are not their rights anymore,
because they are not refugees, they are migrants according to the new tongue[4].
Moreover, the risks
that refugees are facing are created, maintained and exaggerated by others who do
not represent them, not just happened because of sleepwalking. Ms. McKernan
celebrated West is among those others. The West cannot walk clean out of
the blood shedding over this crime of modern Slavery, particularly Europe. If
we choose to forget about the heritage of centuries of colonization that
intercepted the natural evolution
and development in the Global South and the gruesome plundering of the wealth
of African nations for the benefit of capital accumulation in Europe (Which are
factors to different extents in the creation of the current situations in
Africa), how can we set a blind eye to the consequences of the current European
anti-migration policies that unleash militias to hunt down refugees in the
African borders to stop them of reaching Europe. Khartoum
Process[5] and other dozens of bilateral
agreements between EU member states and African countries are in place to
achieve one objective of stopping refugees far away from the borders of Europe.
Taking Sudan as an example, the EU continues to
support Sudan efforts to fight irregular migration[6] and millions of Euros are being
paid from the European taxpayer’s money for that purpose. Efforts that EU knows very well that they are
being implemented by the infamous, restructured
Janjaweed militia, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)[7].
Although the EU continues to flatly deny all evidences of supporting the RSF
while acknowledging its support to Sudan efforts in controlling migration, the Sudanese
regime announced several times that it assigned border control duties and
duties related migration control to its RSF militia. The numbers of those
refugees arrested are even announced in a festive manner by the RSF leadership[8] in
order to prove its effectiveness and worthiness to the world in an attempt to convince
the world of setting a blind eye to its crimes. This happens every now and then with growing numbers of
detainees[9]. RSF –which is a restructured
Janjaweed militia that is described by the UN[10] as a tool for proxy war of the
Sudanese Government and a factor for increasing violence, collective punishment
and forced displacement in Darfur and it was also used by the government for killing of civilian protesters[11] along many other violations- is
being accused with abuses against migrants[12] but nobody seems to be concerned.
The detained migrants are brought to Khartoum in several occasions to face
prison time before they are forcibly deported to their home countries[13]. Another crime and violation of the
international law but still, nobody is concerned.
Sudan is not the only case where the EU and its
member states are shamelessly using militias to push refugees back. Italy started recently to provide support to
Libyan militias[14] to assist in tracking migrants and
stopping them from passing to Europe; stemming migration as the term is coined.
A funding deal that includes the provision of equipment, boats and salaries was
made with the two most powerful militias in the western Libyan city of Sabrata,
which is the biggest launching point for the African migrants in their attempt
to cross the Mediterranean. The UN designates one of these two
agreed-with militias as a main facilitator of human trafficking[15]. This deal has been reported to
drastically decrease the numbers of those who arrive to the European borders,
but at what cost? If we let alone the catastrophic impact of funding an illegal
armed group and allowing it to enrich and empower its self, how can the EU and
its member states deny the impact of that in the re-emergence of modern
slavery. However, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security
Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission Federica
Mogherini[16] saluted these Italian measures in her speech to the European Parliament[17].
The EU member states bilateral agreements with
the African countries (particularly Sudan) are problematically controversial at best if not illegal and an open
call for Human Rights violations by tyrannical regimes[18]. A recent legal analysis of the bilateral agreement
between Italy and Sudan[19] found it to be in breach of
internationally recognised human rights. Other countries like Germany[20] signed agreements with Sudan that
includes training security forces to fight migration on behalf of Europe (A
task that is officially assigned by the Sudanese government to RSF), United
Kingdom continues in its bi-annual strategic dialogue meetings[21] with the Sudanese government that
repeatedly emphasize on strengthening cooperation to fight migration. More
recently UK and Sudanese army signed a Memorandum of Understanding[22] in British Army is to provide
administrative and logistic services necessary to facilitate the East African
Standby Force (EASF) Military Field Training. Such deals that includes security
cooperation might be a breach to the UN arms embargo on Sudan, which also prohibits
-according to the UK government[23]- technical assistance, brokering
services and other military-related services. As well, it also prohibits financing
or financial assistance related to military activities for use in Sudan. The
EASF Military Field Training is an obvious military activity that will be
taking place in Sudan.
The
legal analysis of the Italian bilateral agreement with Sudan also pointed to the attempts made by the
European governments to elude the official channels of negotiation of
international agreements, the rules on ratification contained in Constitutions
and, eventually, the respect of human rights by designating these agreements as
Memorandum of Understanding. Then it is less binding, causes less media nagging and needs less formal procedures.
But what is in the name, the crime is still smelly.
Although the EU continues to claim that the
Khartoum Process interventions are of civilian and developmental nature, some
of the proposed interventions are of a very security nature. For example, The Regional Operational Centre in support of the
Khartoum Process and AU-Horn of Africa Initiative project (ROCK) is a 5 Million Euros project
whose main beneficiaries are the law enforcement agencies of Ethiopia, Eritrea,
South Sudan, Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, Tunisia, Egypt and Djibouti. With possible
engagement of Uganda and Libya as well. The project aims at capacity building,
intelligence gathering and sharing between these agencies. Well, we have seen examples for the so-called
law enforcement forces when it comes to the current European approach of
African border control on the RSF of Sudan and Sabrata militias in Libya. The ROCK
will have a commanding centre in a police training centre in Khartoum and the implementation authority
will be a consortium of the EU Member States and the INTERPOL with “their
highly technical competence and specialisation” in addition to the agencies
from the countries of Khartoum Process. These controversial forces -at best-
will then directly benefit of such capacity building. Given the records of all
these countries in using Law Enforcement Agencies in human rights violations,
the results of such capacity building will be nothing but more feeding of the
beast. For capacity building in aspects other than security, it is enough to
mention that a recent members of the EU Parliament concluded in a report of visit to Sudan in December 2016[24] that the main achievement of
the National Anti-trafficking Committee
after two years of its creation; is the participation of its members in
international gatherings in London, Addis Ababa, Italy, Bahrein and Qatar. While
it does not have a physical work place nor a budget nor trained personnel and
no safe houses for victims. I cannot find a more obvious example
for how Khartoum Process is dispelling EU taxpayers' money other than that.
Currently in Sudan, the capacity of the physical infrastructure of the borders’ security is
increasing rapidly. In addition to the celebratory media coverage of the RSF
announcements of refugees’ detentions, investing in new detention centres for
refugees is underway for instance in the Northern State. The aim of these
increasing securitization plans is to expand the operational area of the RSF in
its hunt of refugees. The Nubian Desert in northern Sudan is a main route for
migrants heading to Libya and Egypt. The Northern City of Dongola is now on the
list as a potential site for establishing one of the largest detention centres
across the country. It goes without saying that Dongola was proposed with no
consideration for the local context nor the community’s view on such new facility.
This is important to mention as the local citizens in the Northern Nubian Sudan
are very sensitive in regards to their lands and the demography of the region.
Skirmishes between the citizens and Sudan’s ruling regime are already taking
place in an alarming level around these issues. Building a refugee detention
centre in this area alongside the
accompanied RSF’s presence and activity and
the forced transient (imprisoning) settlement of the refugees in local communities,
will only lead to increasing tensions and more serious frictions. Migration
strategists and policy makers have failed again to study the situation on the
ground or consider understanding the local context and people’s concerns while
putting their proposals or maybe they just chose to ignore that. The exclusion of
the local communities’ perspective and the overlooking of their social, historical
and demographic context reflects are part of the secrecy and the lack of
transparency that surrounds the Khartoum Process and the subsequent European migration
managements and interventions. This secrecy and lack of community engagement
and consultation lead to nothing but more drowning in the securitization approach
of dealing with repressive governments to attempt solving a problem they caused
in the first place. As well, it creates further misunderstanding and confusion within
the public opinion and feeds into notions of fear and
exclusion of the other. While the EU, maybe aiming to reduce the fuss and
criticism of its interventions through this obscurity, but in situations that
lack enough space for the Freedom of Expression-like that of Sudan as per the EU own statements[25]- opening the space and minds and
hearts to hear and listen to the criticism and appraisals from local forces and
civil society is very crucial. Any attempts from the EU or its Member States to
force donor agendas to silence critiques or set some lines of censorship on the
civil society organizations that raise its voice with criticism to the process
will be harmful and more catastrophic than the current mismanagement crisis and
will increase the polarization around the whole migration issue. EU should
listen to both its domestic and African voices that assess its current approach
in tackling the issue of asylum and refugees, and try to come with a better community-based
and participatory approach in addressing the root causes of what is being
described now as a crisis.
With all of the above, the direction which the
EU and its members states are currently taking in tackling the migration issue
is nothing but securitization of new pushed-south "externalization of borders” by militias and regimes that have no
great respect to the rule of law or the values of human rights. They are not
bound by the European standards and do not even care to violate the
international law and human rights. In the bottom line reality, it is the EU
that violates these standards but by proxy.
The tightness of border control policies and
the blockade of asylum routes is the main cause for the return of slave trade to
the modern age by this scale. In reality, most of the refugees and/or migrants
as the EU now want their name to be, are not being kidnapped against their
will. They resort to smugglers as their only choice
to find their way out of conditions of “well-founded fear of persecution”[26]
or in which their physical, legal and material safety and their dignity and
basic rights cannot be made available. The international law gives them the
right to seek refuge, but in the absence of safe pathways of obtaining this right, resorting to smugglers
becomes the only choice. While refugees are right’s agents, smugglers are not rights’
defenders, they are doing this as for-profit business and they can easily turn
sides as has been proven by the Italian measures. Putting a price tag on
stopping refugees whether by aid packages to failed regimes that are part of
the root-causes of the asylum phenomena or by direct payments to militias is
the first step of the commodification of refugees and taking away their humane
identity. This does turn them to goods in the eyes of illegal gangs. Then human
trafficking finds its conducive environment to grow with the goods made
available and free of charge or with a little price. The same smugglers are turned to traffickers by
the currently implemented security measures for double profit. The other ugly
fact about the outrageous western reaction to the slave trade crisis is about
the attempts to use it to force asylum seekers/refugees back to the
situations they were trying to flee in the first place[27] without working on solving the
roots of their problems or guaranteeing their safety. This would be the most
unethical, unprincipled and wicked European act, since Europe decided that it “discovered”
Africa.
Make no mistake here, those who make this
dangerous choice are not the ones who are pulled to migration to Europe for the
life style, they are the ones who are in the most of need for a safe heaven
that can protect their dignity and humanity and rights. Those pulled are the
ones who can get asylum in Europe very easily after getting there by plane and
entering with formal visas facilitated with their socio-economic privileges in
their home countries. While those in most need are left to try the dangerous
option. This whole Pull and Push factors of migration hypothesis is not
suitable for explaining the current situation, simply because it is not
migration, it is asylum. The real crisis
that is being ignored is the catastrophic increase in the numbers of those who need
refuge in our world of today. This surge is not only because of the failure of
the states and tyranny in the global south, but also because of the increased
severity of the global inequality, which has its own historical roots, and
context that needs addressing. In the absence of a comprehensive vision of the migration
issue, that takes all the roots and causes of refuging into account, the aid
and development packages that EU is presenting to address migration, will not
be other than thirty silver coins to buy a Haceldama for the stranger refugees.
[1]
People for sale; Where lives are auctioned for $400. CNN exclusive report By
Nima Elbagir, Raja Razek, Alex Platt and Bryony Jones, http://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/14/africa/libya-migrant-auctions/index.html
[2] McKernan,
B. (2017). The rest of the world has seen the horrors of Libya's slave markets.
But African migrants are still sleepwalking into danger. [online] The
Independent. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/african-migrants-libya-slave-markets-aim-europe-refugees-human-trafficking-smugglers-a8087591.html
[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[3]
Twitter.com. (2017). Bethan McKernan (@mck_beth) | Twitter. [online] Available
at: https://twitter.com/mck_beth
[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[4]
Amjed Farid (2017). The Judas Face of Europe: Why Is The EU-Khartoum Process So
Wrong on So Many Levels. [online] Sudanseen.blogspot.com. Available at: http://sudanseen.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-judas-face-of-europe-why-is-eu.html
[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[5] Khartoumprocess.net.
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[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[6] Sudantribune.com.
(2017). Sudan receives 100 million euros from EU to stem irregular migrants -
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[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[7] Sudantribune.com.
(2017). Sudan says it is combating illegal migration "on behalf of
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Available at: http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article60087
[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[8] Sudantribune.com.
(2017). Sudan’s RSF militia arrests 600 illegal migrants near Libyan and
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Available at: http://sudantribune.com/spip.php?article59779
[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[9] Sudantribune.com. (2017). Sudan’s SRF militia
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[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[10] UN
Security Council. Report of the Panel of Experts on the Sudan established
pursuant to resolution 1591, January 2015. [online] Available at: http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/S_2015_31.pdf
[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[11] Human
Rights Watch. (2015). "We Stood, They Opened Fire" | Killings and
Arrests by Sudan’s Security Forces during the September Protests. [online]
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[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[12] Morgan,
H. (2017). Sudan's RSF unit accused of abuses against migrants. [online]
Aljazeera.com. Available at: http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/africa/2017/11/sudan-rsf-unit-accused-abuses-migrants-171117133237654.html
[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[13] Radio
Dabanga. (2017). Sudan deports another 36 Eritrean migrants. [online] Available
at: https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/sudan-deports-another-36-eritrean-migrants
[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[14] AP
News. (2017). Backed by Italy, Libya enlists militias to stop migrants.
[online] Available at: https://www.apnews.com/9e808574a4d04eb38fa8c688d110a23d
[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[15] Final
report of the Panel of Experts on Libya established pursuant to resolution 1973
[1 June 2017]. UN Security Council. Available at: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/N1711623.pdf
[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[16]
Twitter.com. Federica Mogherini (@FedericaMog) | Twitter. [online] Available
at: https://twitter.com/FedericaMog.
[17] EEAS
- European External Action Service. (2017). Speech by HR/VP Federica Mogherini
at the European Parliament plenary session on the recent developments in
migration - EEAS - European External Action Service - European Commission.
[online] Available at: https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/32002/speech-hrvp-federica-mogherini-european-parliament-plenary-session-recent-developments_en
[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[18] Guengl.eu.
(2017). Press conference: Italy, the EU and their deal with Sudan to combat
migration | 14 February 5.30pm - GUE/NGL - Another Europe is possible. [online]
Available at: http://www.guengl.eu/news/article/P10/press-conference-gue-ngl-delegation-to-sudan-findings-on-refugees-situation
[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[19] Memorandum
of Understanding between Italy and Sudan: a legal analysis. (2017). HUMAN
RIGHTS AND MIGRATION LAW CLINIC of TURIN. Available at: https://www.asgi.it/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Report-Memorandum-of-Understanding-Sudan-Italy-SL-Clinic-UniTO.pdf
[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[20] Sudantribune.com.
(2017). Sudan and Germany in joint cooperation to combat illegal migration -
Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan. [online] Available at: http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article60551
[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[21] Sudantribune.com.
(2017). UK, Sudan agree to strengthen cooperation on fight terrorism and human
trafficking - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan. [online] Available
at: http://sudantribune.com/spip.php?article63784
[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[22] Sudantribune.com.
(2017). Sudan, UK sign agreement over British army participation in regional
drills - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan. [online] Available at: http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article64002
[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[23] Gov.uk.
(2017). Embargoes and sanctions on Sudan – Government of the UK. [online]
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[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[24] Guengl.eu.
(2016). EU and Italian cooperation with Sudan on border control: what is at
stake? Report GUE/NGL Delegation to Khartoum, Sudan. [online] Available at: http://www.guengl.eu/uploads/news-documents/Report_GUE-NGL_Delegation_to_Sudan_19-22.12.2016.pdf
[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[25] Europarl.europa.eu.
(2017). European Parliament resolution of 16 November 2017 on freedom of
expression in Sudan, notably the case of Mohamed Zine al -Abidine
(2017/2961(RSP)). [online] Available at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P8-TA-2017-0443+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=EN
[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[26]
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[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
[27] EURACTIV.fr.
(2017). Une force de renseignement UE-Afrique contre la traite des migrants.
[online] Available at: http://www.euractiv.fr/section/all/news/une-force-de-renseignement-ue-afrique-contre-la-traite-des-migrants/
[Accessed 8 Dec. 2017].
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