In a shocking turn of events, Egyptian authorities, backed by EU money, have unleashed a ruthless campaign against Sudanese refugees fleeing a brutal war. Between January and March 2024, around 800 Sudanese were forcefully deported without a chance to seek asylum. This is not just an isolated incident but part of a larger, disturbing crackdown.
In Cairo, Giza, and Aswan, police are targeting black individuals with mass stops and identity checks, creating a climate of terror that keeps refugees locked inside their homes. Even hospitals in Aswan aren’t safe, with 14 refugees arrested from public hospitals, thrown into filthy detention facilities run by border guards flush with EU funds.
The horrors don’t stop there. Refugees, including innocent children, are crammed into dirty warehouses and stables before being loaded onto buses and driven back to the war-torn Sudanese border. This is happening while nearly 2 million people have fled Sudan since the war erupted in April 2023, and the country is now the epicenter of the world’s largest internal displacement crisis.
In West Darfur, militias are committing crimes against humanity, displacing thousands in what can only be described as ethnic cleansing. Yet, amidst this chaos, Egypt has the audacity to launch mass deportations.
A top UN official called the crisis in Sudan “one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory,” highlighting the nightmare of rising famine among refugees. Despite this, Egypt’s prime minister issued a decree last August demanding foreign nationals regularize their status, triggering a wave of arbitrary arrests and inhumane detention conditions for Sudanese refugees.
September 2023 alone saw 3,000 deported back to Sudan. And why? Egypt wants to tally the financial burden of hosting refugees, hinting at a call for more international aid.
The EU, meanwhile, signed an €80m deal with Egypt in October 2022, aimed at boosting border security and preventing migration to Europe. An additional €20m followed to cope with the influx of Sudanese refugees. In March, Egypt was promised another €7.4bn, with €200m earmarked for migration control. European leaders see these deals as solutions to migratory flows, but they turn a blind eye to the human cost.
The EU’s role in this travesty cannot be ignored. By funding Egypt’s border crackdown, they risk being complicit in gross human rights violations. Sudanese refugees, seeking safety, are instead met with arbitrary detention and unlawful deportation.
This isn’t just a crisis; it’s a scandal of epic proportions, revealing a dark side of international funding and migration control.
