Border Control from Hell: How the EU's migration partnership legitimizes Sudan's "militia state"

Large-scale migration to Europe has precipitated a paradigm shift in relations between the European Union (EU) and the government of Sudan, and closer ties between both entities. This new partnership has resulted in the EU disbursing millions of euros to the Sudanese government for technical equipment and training efforts geared toward stopping the flow to Europe of migrants from Sudan and those from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa who come through Sudan.

Corrupt Leaders Thrust South Sudan Into Famine and Abject Ruin

This op-ed originally appeared in the Daily Beast, and was written by John Prendergast.

Note: This article is excerpted from a new report from the Enough Project: “How The World’s Newest Country Went Awry: South Sudan’s war, famine and potential genocide.”

A legacy of corruption and violence has finally caught up to South Sudan, the world’s newest country, as the United Nations has declared a full-blown famine, a rare designation not made for any part of the world since 2011. Multiple UN officials have additionally warned that the country, riven by armed conflict, stands on the brink of genocide.

A brief review of that nation’s history can offer insight into how things got so bad—and what, in concert with the urgent need for a surge in humanitarian aid, can be done to dismantle seemingly endless cycles of violence and suffering.

Fox News Op-ed: Congo's Violent Kleptocracy at a Crossroads

Note: This op-ed originally appeared in Fox News and was written by Enough Project Founding Director, John Prendergast and Associate Director for Policy Sasha Lezhnev.

At fifteen minutes to midnight on New Year’s Eve, early fireworks went offinthe Democratic Republic ofCongo. These weren’t to celebrateanothernew year, but rather the signing of an agreement that, if implemented, paves the way for the country’s first ever peaceful, democratic transition of power.

Many monthsinthe making, the deal was an important achievement. The agreement has many variables: President Joseph Kabila committed to not hold a referendum to change the constitution to allow him to run again; the opposition agreed to not hold up the deal because of the pending legal case of one of its main leaders, Moïse Katumbi; all agreed to hold electionsin2017; and the government agreed to drop charges against several, though not all, political prisoners.

Before looking forward to the difficult process of implementation, it’s important to look back for a moment to understand what allowed this deal to come together...

Read the full op-ed in Fox News.

Weapons of Mass Corruption: How corruption in South Sudan’s military undermines the world’s newest country

“Weapons of Mass Corruption” is the fifth in a series of in-depth, field research-driven reports on the dynamics of profit and power fueling war in the Horn, East and Central Africa. Violent kleptocracies dominate the political landscape of this region, leading to protracted conflicts marked by the commission of mass atrocities by state and non-state actors. Enough's Political Economy of African Wars series will focus on the key players in these conflicts, their motivations, how they benefit from the evolving war economies, and what policies might be most effective in changing the calculations of those orchestrating the violence–including both incentives and pressures for peace.

Sudan: Civil Disobedience Campaign Continues as Economic Crisis Looms

“Your country is burning and being looted and people are now living in [a] dire situation where there is no medicine.”– Sudanese protester interviewed by Al-Jazeera on November 27, 2016

Civil Disobedience Campaign

Sunday marked the first day in a three-day civil disobedience campaign across Sudan. Although the Sudanese government dismissed the level of participation as insignificant, local reporting in Khartoum shows that many Sudanese people joined in the first day of this campaign. Numerous shops remained closed in Khartoum and Omdurman and many parents kept their children home from school. Although the government tried to portraySundayas a typical day in Khartoum, the difference was evident in the lack of automobile and pedestrian traffic in normally congested areas. As one driver in Khartoum’s largest public transportation station said in theSudan Tribune: “the streets are empty as if the country is on a holiday.”

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