The Settlers’ War (1)

Salma Hamd Elawad

Demographic change in Sudan’s population composition is one of the primary objectives of the ongoing conflict, a goal that has been carefully planned for a long time. This article explores how and why certain countries benefit from altering Sudan’s demographic makeup by displacing its original inhabitants and replacing them with others.
In 2014, the European Union announced an initiative addressing the challenges of illegal migration known as the “Khartoum Process,” managed by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GAZ). A European intelligence centre, Rock, was also established in the heart of Khartoum and managed by a French state security company. The justification given was that Sudan is a country of origin, transit, and destination for migration from East and West Africa to Europe and the Middle East.
In 2015, the European Union created a €2 billion fund (the EU Trust Fund for Africa) and tasked the Khartoum Process with implementing initiatives funded by the trust. A spokesperson for the EU told DW (Deutsche Welle) that one of the projects led by Germany provides equipment and training to the border guards, specifically the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Reports from Oxfam and Human Rights Watch indicate that Sudanese citizens believe the EU funding is being used to purchase advanced weapons for the RSF. This was highlighted in an article by Louise Sullivan, who worked as a consultant for “Better Migration Management” from 2017-2019, published in May 2021.
The BMM website states that EU funds provide technical assistance, tools, and equipment to the RSF. Observers from organisations and agencies monitoring migration and humanitarian issues agree that the funding of the Khartoum Process is complex and lacks transparency, raising many accusations about the provision of equipment and financing to the Janjaweed militia. The British newspaper The Observer reported on June 4, 2023, that the European Union is paying billions to armed gangs in Africa to prevent migrants from reaching Europe.
The truth-seeker, capable of synthesising information and connecting the dots with what has happened and continues to happen in Sudan and the region, will fully realise that the Khartoum Process, which contributed to the funding and training of the “Rapid Support Forces” (RSF), was merely a cover for several operations and missions orchestrated by some European countries. These include the December Revolution, the assassination of Idriss Déby, Mohamed Bazoum’s election victory in Niger, and the chaos in Mali and the Central African Republic. They will uncover that the Khartoum Process had a hidden agenda in addition to its stated goal: to turn Khartoum into a new wave of migration destination, emptying specific African countries of some of their tribal and religious components to be resettled in Sudan. The targeted tribes are those shared between countries in the region and serve as tribal incubators for jihadist movements and extremist organisations.
Sudan, with its ethnic diversity, tribal connections, vast land, resources, and fragile political and economic situation, presented a golden opportunity for colonial powers whose economies depended on the wealth and resources of “Françafrique”—a term referring to countries that were once French colonies and remained under its economic and political influence. Most countries in the Sahel and Sahara region belong to this group. Recently, Germany became a key partner with France in an attempt to keep these countries under its control. France has intervened militarily in Africa post-independence about thirty times and still maintains several military bases in the region. Current French President Emmanuel Macron has visited Africa 18 times during his tenure. At the same time, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose country also has military bases in the region, made Africa the destination of his first foreign tour.
Most countries in the Sahel and Sahara region (including Libya, Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, Sudan, Niger, Eritrea, the Central African Republic, Senegal, The Gambia, Djibouti, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria, Somalia, Togo, and Benin, plus Cameroon) face armed conflicts, rebellions, and extremism, mostly tied to the same shared Arab Jehynian tribal element, to which many RSF leaders and soldiers belong.
The intertwining of tribal components with extremist movements in most of the resource-rich African region, which underpins the French and German economies, is a well-documented phenomenon. According to a study titled “The Tribal Dimension within Terrorist and Extremist Organizations in Africa,” published by the CEMO (Centre d’Etudes des Mouvements d’Ordre) in Paris on July 29, 2018, the weakness and fragility of African states, especially in border areas lacking security institutions, have significantly contributed to the growing connection between terrorist groups and African tribes. This has led many to describe terrorism in Africa as “hybrid terrorism,” which goes beyond the simplistic understanding of jihadist organisations. The study argues that terrorist activities are not solely aimed at achieving religious or identity-related goals but are also intertwined with tribal dominance.
It seems that a plan has been devised to eliminate the tribes and movements that cause instability in the region without requiring the beneficiary states to bear the burden of waging wars or sending troops. This plan is based on the idea of creating a national hero who belongs to these tribes and seeks to unite them in a wealthy country where they would become the rulers. Efforts have been made to fuel the ambitions of Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemeti), even though it was known that the creation of an “Arab State” (referring to the “Atawiyyah” tribes) on Sudanese soil would be a dream that would cost rivers of blood and lead to a prolonged war. This war would inevitably attract many members of extremist organisations from those tribes and possibly others as well.
Europe wanted to rid itself of rebellious tribes that serve as tribal incubators for organisations that view their presence and investments on European soil as legitimate jihadist targets. Thus, a plan was crafted to draw these tribes into the dream of settling in Sudan and being consumed by the furnace of Sudan’s war.
As noted by Sean McFate, author of “The New Rules of War: How America Can Win Against Russia, China, and Other Threats,” mercenaries are an extremely attractive option for wealthy nations to wage wars that their citizens do not wish to fight.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) seems to be at the forefront of these wealthy nations. It has found the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to be the cheapest and most numerous type of mercenaries. According to an article published by The Wall Street Journal on August 10, 2023, the UAE is betting on supporting Hemeti’s forces to protect its interests in Sudan, benefiting from its strategic location on the Red Sea and Nile River and gaining access to Sudan’s vast gold reserves. The UAE’s key interests in Sudan include enormous agricultural lands and a stake in a planned $6 billion port on the Red Sea. The RSF mercenaries are the UAE’s most cost-effective option to impose its covert occupation of a country as large and resource-rich as Sudan, serving as its cheapest army to exert dominance across nations.
Seizing Sudan’s resources and lands seems part of a broader Emirati plan to transform Sudan into a “happy farm” for producing and breeding mercenaries in service of the UAE’s expansionist ambitions.