Refugee crisis in Sudan threatens to 'engulf' Europe

Europe has been warned to ready itself for a “massive” influx of refugees from war-torn Sudan.

An expert says EU member states and the West should brace themselves for flow of refugees from Sudan which could “overwhelm European countries.”

Dagalo, better known by “Hemedti”, said, however, that the current Sudanese government could avoid a refugee crisis, as its borders are under the control of the army.

"Because of our commitment to the international community and the law, we are keeping the refugee flow out. We don’t want it to create a huge problem around the world," he told Politico.

Hemedti stressed, though, that the immigration problem is real and poses “a great threat.”

There are 2.5 million IDPs in Sudan. Most of them are in Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile states, which have also been the eye of the conflict over the past 17 years. These are also the areas with the highest percentage of people in need – 52% of all people in these three states are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Despite its internal challenges, Sudan is both a destination and transit country for asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants from at least ten countries. These include refugees from Eritrea, the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad and Ethiopia. Refugees in Sudan are settled in camps, out-of-camp settlements, and urban areas across 18 states. Of the 1.1 million refugees in Sudan (according to UNHRC), about 75% are from South Sudan – 51% of whom are women. Among the refugee population, 48% are under 18 years old. Khartoum and White Nile states host two-thirds of all South Sudanese refugees in the country, and Khartoum has the highest number among all states. Sudan is hosting the second-highest number of refugees fleeing violence in South Sudan.

Eastern Sudan hosts more than 133,000 Eritrean and Ethiopian refugees and asylum seekers – including new arrivals and protracted refugees – who live across Al Jazirah, Gedaref, Kassala, Red Sea, and Sennar states. In November 2020, Ethiopian refugees from the Tigray region began to arrive in eastern Sudan, fleeing conflict in Tigray.

Many would agree that Sudan is the territory from which the flow of immigrants can begin. Most of the refugees consider Sudan a transit point to other countries, whether through legal or illegal ways.

One of the decisive moments in the mass immigration of refugees, which European countries would do well to pay attention to, is Libya. In recent years, many immigrants have travelled through Libya on their way to Europe, even though they risk a terrible fate in Libya’s detention centres. However, during the ongoing elections in the country, the focus of all services will be “domestic” and maintaining a "quiet" situation, which makes the passage for refugees through Libya almost unhindered.

Refugees and illegal immigrants can assimilate in European countries such as Italy and Greece, from where they can migrate to Central European countries along "proven routes" such as via Germany, Belgium or France where the refugee situation recent years has reached a peak of social tension between refugees and local people.

The refugee issue remains a key concern for Europe with the European Union refusing to receive more immigrants and also unable to agree on how to distribute them throughout its territory.

Despite the ongoing influx of refugees at Belarus' borders with Poland and other EU states, European governments continue to resist accepting them. At least 13 people have lost their lives near the border between Belarus and Poland in recent months as they try to reach the EU.

The big question now is this – is the EU  ready for the massive flow of refugees from Africa when they have already have another refugee crisis to resolve?

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