♦ This week’s news in brief ♦
A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan’s highlights of the news from Darfur and Sudan
A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan's highlights of the news from Darfur and Sudan
♦ RSF militia captures 66 migrants in North Darfur
April 23 – 2018 EL FASHER / NEW YORK The Rapid Support Forces, Sudan’s main militia, foiled an attempt to smuggle people to Libya on Saturday. By outsourcing border management to countries with “dubious” human rights records, the European Union is “quietly getting its hands dirty”, says a New York Times author.
The head of the Sudanese security service (NISS) in North Darfur told the press on Saturday that members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) intercepted two Land Cruisers in Wadi Howar. They were on their way to the Sudanese-Libyan border and carried 66 refugees: six Ethiopians and 37 Sudanese people. There were eight women and seven children among them.
Last week, police in eastern Sudan raided places where 25 illegal immigrants, most of them from Eritrea, were being held hostage by a human trafficking gang. The immigrants have been taken into custody.
The European Union has financially supported plans for better migration management in Sudan. The USA-based activist organisation Enough Project has warned that EU’s financial support would assist the RSF – reports which the EU denied.
On Sunday, the New York Times online pointed as well to the EU outsourcing its border management to Sudan. “In practical terms, the approach is working: The number of migrants arriving in Europe has more than halved since 2016. But many migration advocates say the moral cost is high,” the author, Patrick Kingsley, stated.
♦ Sudan airlifts hundreds of Darfuri recruits to UAE, bound for Yemen
April 18 – 2018 DARFUR Last week hundreds of Darfuris were reportedly transported from El Geneina airport in West Darfur to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in two large aircraft, for military training. They will then be deployed by Sudan in the war in Yemen.
Informed sources in El Geneina told Radio Dabanga that the recruitment process is carried out by officers of the UAE. According to the sources, each recruit who is fit to fight and is no more than 30 years old would be given SDG1 million ($55,000) in advance to sign a service contract for a period of five years.
The sources said that last week two large aircraft loaded with hundreds of soldiers of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) government militia were flown to Yemen after receiving military training in camps in West and Central Darfur. Hundreds of recruits have already been flown from Nyala airport to Saudi Arabia after being recruited by Saudi officers at Mural Hotel.
There have been demands from within Sudan and abroad to withdraw Sudanese troops from the war in Yemen, especially following reports that on 10 April three senior Sudanese officers and dozens of soldiers were killed during a battle in northern Yemen, in the desert of Medi. Dozens more soldiers were wounded.
Former Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour, who has been sacked by President Al Bashir on Thursday for discussing salaries of Sudanese diplomats in public, had recently confirmed Sudan’s continued participation in the Arab coalition forces in Yemen (Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt).
More news from Radio Dabanga:
April 24 – 2018 KHARTOUM United Nations Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Sudan, Aristide Nononsi concluded a visit to Sudan from 14 to 24 April. He…
Sudan’s fuel shortage further paralyses transport
April 24 – 2018 KHARTOUM Reports from various parts of Sudan to Radio Dabanga tell of the paralysing effect the fuel shortage has had on traffic and public transportation for nearly…
Border Guards kidnap six people in South Darfur
April 23 – 2018 KASS Members of the paramilitary Border Guards abducted six people from Turr in South Darfur’s Kass locality on Saturday. They demand a ransom of SDG 1,500,000…
Militiamen plunder, burn 13 villages in Darfur’s Jebel Marra
April 23 – 2018 JEBEL MARRA At least 30,000 people fled their homes during attacks by large groups of militiamen on their villages in northern Jebel Marra last week.The villagers…
Again voluntary returnees killed in South Darfur
April 22 – 2018 KATILA Unidentified gunmen killed four returnees and wounded six others in an attack by unknown gunmen on the village of Jamra in South Darfur’s Katila on Thursday…
Environmental activists detained in South Kordofan
April 22 – 2018 KALOGI Sudan’s National Committee for Environmental Advocacy has strongly condemned the arrest of a number of activists and environment defenders in South…
Fuel crisis leads to thirst and failure of agriculture in Sudan
April 22 – 2018 SUDAN The ongoing scarcity of fuel in Sudan is affecting the provision of drinking water and the agriculture in the country. People in various states in the country…
Gunmen abduct two children in Darfur's Jebel Marra
April 20 – 2018 DUBO EL OMDA Gunmen abducted two children near Dubo El Omda in East Jebel Marra, which has witnessed several attacks by militiamen this month. Three people…
Ten wounded in demo against sale of plots in Sudan capital
April 20 – 2018 KHARTOUM At least ten residents of the Sudanese capital were injured during peaceful protests against the construction of a sand barrier in their neighbourhood on…
Darfur rebels claim deadly attack on Sudanese army
April 20 – 2018 TORONG TURA The rebel forces led by Abdelwahid El Nur claimed the killing of 27 Sudanese soldiers in Jebel Marra on Wednesday evening…
Amnesty International: Call for ‘urgent action’ over blind Darfur sheikh detained in Sudan
April 19 – 2018 SUDAN Amnesty International has called for ‘urgent action’ in connection with the continued detention of Matar Younis Ali Hussein, a visually impaired religious…
Hundreds of detainees still not released in Sudan
April 18 – 2018 SUDAN The Committee of Solidarity with the Victims of the September Demonstrations has confirmed the presence of a large number of political detainees still in…
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