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Darfuri Migration from Sudan to Europe

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Darfuri Migration from Sudan to Europe Joint study by REF and HPG Darfuri migration from Sudan to Europe From displacement to despair Susanne Jaspars and Margie Buchanan-Smith August 2018 The Research and Evidence Facility (REF) Consortium is comprised of: Department of Development Studies, SOAS University of London. Team Leader: Laura Hammond. Communications Key Expert: Idil Osman. www.soas.ac.uk/ref-hornresearch Sahan Research Ltd. Governance and Conflict Key Expert: Vincent Chordi. www.sahan.eu The Global Development Institute, The University of Manchester. Migration & Development Key Expert: Oliver Bakewell. www.gdi.manchester.ac.uk International Migration Institute, Oxford University. www.imi.ox.ac.uk This study was funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Stabilisation and Humanitarian Aid Department) and the EU, in the context of the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa. Research partners in Sudan: The University of Khartoum’s Faculty of Economic and Social Studies, CEDEJ- Khartoum and Oxfam Sudan. Humanitarian Policy Group, Overseas Development Institute, 203 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8NJ, United Kingdom Tel. +44 (0) 20 7922 0300. Fax. +44 (0) 20 7922 0399. Email: [email protected]. Website: www.odi.org/hpg EUTF Research and Evidence Facility on Migration in the Horn of Africa Email: [email protected]. Website: www.soas.ac.uk/ref-hornresearch This publication was written by Susanne Jaspars and Margie Buchanan-Smith. This publication was commissioned by the Research and Evidence Facility (REF), a research consortium led by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. This publication was produced with financial support of the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for the Horn of Africa and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Stabilisation and Humanitarian Aid Department). Its contents are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or the Royal Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. © 2018 School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. All rights reserved. Licensed to the European Union under conditions. Published by the Overseas Development Institute with permission from the European Union. About the authors Susanne Jaspars is a Research Associate at SOAS, University of London. She has 30 years’ experience of research and operational work in the social and political aspects of food security, livelihoods and humanitarian aid in situations of famine, conflict and humanitarian crisis. She recently completed a PhD at Bristol University examining the history and politics of food aid in Sudan. Susanne first worked in Darfur in 1989 for Oxfam. She has continued her engagement with Sudan ever since, including as a Research Fellow at HPG. She has also worked as a researcher, advisor or practitioner in a range of other countries, mostly in the Horn and East Africa. She has published a number of books, articles and policy reports. Her most recent publication is Food aid in Sudan: a history of power, politics and profit (Zed Books, May 2018). Margie Buchanan-Smith is a Senior Research Associate with HPG. She has 30 years’ experience as a policy researcher in the humanitarian sector. Her expertise is in livelihoods, food security and protracted conflict crises. Her engagement with Darfur began in 1987 when she worked as an adviser to the Darfur Regional Government. She has led and published a number of policy-oriented research studies on aspects of the conflict, many with the Feinstein International Center at Tufts University, where she is a Visiting Fellow. For six years she was an adviser to the Market Monitoring and Trade Analysis project run by national NGO the Darfur Development and Reconstruction Agency (DDRA), and led three in-depth trade studies in Darfur. She has been the consultant/ researcher of choice for a number of UN, donor and NGO organisations for a range of research, advisory and evaluation assignments in Sudan and elsewhere. Research team Musa Adam Abdul-Jalil, Abduljabbar Fadule, Musa Adam Ismail, Mariam Adam, Alsadiq Sharifeldin, Asadiq Adam, Ibrahim Jamilala, El Fateh Osman, Bashir Abbas, Dalal Rajab, Zuhair Bashar, Sahar Ali, Manal Ali Bashir, Alessandro Cristalli and Hisham Adam Ali. iii iv Darfuri migration from Sudan to Europe Acknowledgements The research team would first of all like to thank the many young Darfuris who agreed to be interviewed, often in the most difficult conditions, whether in Darfur, Khartoum, or in the different European countries they moved through. We particularly appreciate their openness in sharing their stories, which were sometimes painful to recount, and the dignity with which they did so. We would also like to thank the families of migrants, community or IDP leaders, and representatives of organisations in Sudan and in Europe, for making the time to be interviewed. We are very grateful to the people who have given advice and support throughout this project. Laura Hammond and Oliver Bakewell of the EUTF Research and Evidence Facility (REF) and John Borton and Sarah Collinson generously gave their time and provided valuable introductions. Idil Osman and Innessa Hadjivayanis at SOAS assisted with administration and budget matters on what became a complex multi-donor and multi-agency project. We thank Christina Bennett at ODI for her advice and support, and for allocating HPG’s own resources to this project. Kerrie Holloway at ODI provided valuable research assistance. Thanks to Barbara Seymour for helping us transcribe interviews. The University of Khartoum’s Faculty of Economic and Social Studies, CEDEJ-Khartoum and Oxfam Sudan facilitated and supported the study throughout. Special thanks to Jean- Nicolas Bach, ElWasila Sem, Musa Abdul Jalil and El Fateh Osman. This study would not have been possible without their support. Our thanks to Oxfam Italy, and particularly to Alessandro Cristalli, for supporting and hosting the fieldwork in Italy, especially in Ventimiglia, and to Baobab for facilitating our access to Darfuris in Rome. We thank Dalal Rajab and Sudan Action Group for facilitating access in Brussels, and Help Refugees, Refugee Community Kitchen and Care4Calais in Calais. Marta Welander and Jaz O’Hara provided background information and valuable introductions. We very much appreciate comments received on the first draft of the report from Azza Ahmed A. Aziz, Oliver Bakewell, Christina Bennett, Bas Blaauw, John Borton, Sarah Collinson, Maddy Crowther, Jessica Hagen-Zanker, Laura Hammond, Annette Hofmann, Daniela Kravetz, Cosimo Lamberti Fossati, Lutz Oette, Virginie de Ruyt, Piotr Zaporowski and Miralyne Zeghoune. Their comments and suggestions significantly strengthened the report. Anna Schmidt provided comments on the penultimate draft. At HPG, Matthew Foley brilliantly edited the report and Merryn Lagaida, Sean Willmott and Caelin Robinson produced the excellent infographics. Finally, we would like to thank the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Stabilisation and Humanitarian Aid Department) and the EU Emergency Trust Fund for the Horn of Africa Development Cooperation DG for providing the funding that made this study possible. We also thank Oxfam Sudan and Italy for making their staff available to work on this study, for funding one of the researchers and for the use of the Oxfam office in Khartoum as a workshop venue. Last but not least, we thank our family and partners, Rick and Josh Finlay and Tony Beck, for their support, and for their patience during the many weekends and evenings we spent working on this report. This study was produced with the financial support of the European Union and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not reflect the views of the European Union or the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. v vi Darfuri migration from Sudan to Europe Contents Acronyms xi Executive summary xv 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Why this study? 1 1.2 A note on terminology 2 1.3 Objectives and research questions 3 1.4 Methodology 4 1.5 Report structure 7 2 Historical trends in migration 9 2.1 Introduction 9 2.2 Migration before the Darfur conflict and humanitarian crisis 9 2.3 Displacement and migration (2003–2011) 11 2.4 Displacement and migration after 2011 13 2.5 Conclusion 18 3 Who migrates to Europe and why? 21 3.1 Introduction 21 3.2 Who is migrating to Europe? 21 3.3 Causes of migration 25 3.4 Conclusion 34 vii 4 Routes and journeys to Europe 35 4.1 Introduction 35 4.2 Changing destinations 35 4.3 Routes, returns and circular movements 36 4.4 Smugglers and traffickers 44 4.5 The role of the diaspora and earlier migrants 50 4.6 Conclusion 51 5 Information, social media and social networks 53 5.1 Introduction 53 5.2 Information and decision-making in advance of migrating 53 5.3 Information and decision-making during the migration journey 57 5.4 Conclusion 59 6 The experience of Darfuris leaving Sudan recently 61 6.1 Introduction 61 6.2 Libya 61 6.3 Italy 62 6.4 France 64 6.5 Belgium 66 6.6 The UK 67 6.7 Trauma among Darfuris in Europe 70 6.8 Conclusion 71 7 Consequences of migration to Europe for families of migrants and for 73 local communities in Sudan 7.1 Introduction 73 7.2 Economic consequences of migration to Europe 73 7.3 Social consequences of migration to Europe 76 viii Darfuri migration from Sudan to Europe 7.4 Political and security consequences of migration to Europe 78 7.5 Conclusion 78 8 Policies, decisions and actions affecting migration 81 8.1 Introduction 81 8.2 Sudanese
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