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Musings From Abroad

EU fears the worst for Ukraine, agrees to host refugees for two years

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The European Union has agreed to adopt a novel directive to grant temporary protection for Ukrainians seeking asylum in neighbouring European countries after Russian military aggression.

The military offensive in Ukraine has caused destruction of civilian infrastructure and civilian casualties and has forced people to flee their homes seeking safety, protection and assistance. In the first week, more than a million refugees from Ukraine crossed borders into neighbouring countries, and many more are on the move both inside and outside the country.

Russia, on February 24, 2022 launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea. The attack is the biggest by one state against another in Europe since World War II.

The vast majority of these exiled people have arrived in EU countries with Poland registering over half a million Ukrainian refugees and Hungary seeing more than 130,000 arrivals.

image from data2.unhcr.org

To cope with the large number of migrants which is the greatest human exodus in Europe since the end of World War II, the 27 member states have embraced a 2001 EU directive that had never been used before.

The European Union came about the Temporary Protection Directive in 2001 in the quest for solidarity between EU States after events in the 1990s, where conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, in Kosovo and elsewhere demonstrated the need for special procedures to deal with mass influxes of displaced persons.

The Temporary Protection Directive is an extraordinary scheme that grants immediate and temporary protection to displaced people coming from non-EU countries

The EU adoption of the Directive was reached in a meeting in Brussels on Thursday, where national ministers reached a unanimous agreement to move ahead and activate the Temporary Protection Directive. The law will enter into force once the proposal is formally adopted by the Council, a step expected to take place in the coming days.

Ylva Johansson, European Commissioner for home affairs, described the EU move as “historic” and a “great day”

“I’m proud of being European, I’m proud of the solidarity that individual citizens are showing” towards Ukraine, Johansson said at the end of the ministerial meeting.

Ukrainian refugees will be given residence permits to stay inside the bloc for at least one year, a period that will be automatically extended for a further year. Member states can then decide to prolong the exceptional measure by one more year if the war continues to ravage the country.

Musings From Abroad

US sanctions companies financing warring parties in Sudan

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The United States has announced sanctions on companies identified to be contributing to the ongoing armed clashes in Sudan.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated that “through sanctions, we are cutting off key financial flows to both the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces, depriving them of resources needed to pay soldiers, rearm, resupply, and wage war in Sudan.”

The move is believed to be an attempt to step up pressure on the army and a rival paramilitary force to bring an end to the fighting as ceasefire talks have mostly failed translate to an actual ceasefire.

The conflict in the country has been between the army under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan’s transitional government’s Sovereign Council, and army troops loyal to General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the council’s deputy leader who controls the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

In a statement, the United States Treasury Department said two companies had been identified to be affiliated with Sudan’s army and two companies affiliated with the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), accusing them of generating revenue from the conflict and contributing to the fighting.

Some of the targeted companies are Algunade, which has in the past bypassed central bank controls to export tens of millions of dollars of gold to Dubai and is said to be a Sudanese holding company controlled by RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and his brother; Tradive General Trading L.L.C., a front company owned by RSF Major Algoney Hamdan Dagalo, another brother; Sudan’s largest defense enterprise, Defense Industries System; and arms company, Sudan Master Technology.

Over 1,000 civilians have been killed in the war, which began on April 15, and more than 1.4 million people have been internally displaced, with approximately 350,000 fleeing into neighbouring countries.

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Musings From Abroad

BRICS Foreign Ministers call for ‘rebalancing’ of global order 

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Foreign ministers of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa currently meeting in Cape Town ahead of the BRICS Summit have called for a “rebalancing” of the global order.

India’s Foreign Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said during opening remarks, “Our gathering must send out a strong message that the world is multipolar, that it is rebalancing and that old ways cannot address new situations.”

A video of Russian Foreign Affairs Minister, Sergey Lavrov at the conference also surfaced yesterday, while speaking about the changes in the international system which makes the pursuit of national interest attainable for all in the system.

“A more just, polycentric international order is taking shape,” Lavrov said.

The host, South Africa, has been under pressure to arrest Russian President, Vladimir Putin during an expected visit to the summit in August following a ruling by the International Criminal Court for his arrest.

United States ambassador, Reuben Brigety last month also accused South Africa of supplying Russia with arms in December in the ongoing Russia/Ukraine war.

Meanwhile, Pretoria has maintained that it is neutral over the war, but is accused by critics of tilting towards the Kremlin, and has long advocated for BRICS to act as a counterbalance to a Western-dominated international order.

“Our vision of BRICS is for our partnership to provide global leadership in a world fractured by competition, geopolitical tension, inequality, and deteriorating global security,” South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor told the meeting.

“Our discussions today will therefore focus on opportunities… strengthening and transforming global governance systems”.

Meanwhile, South African opposition parties are divided over the country’s continued relations with Russia and the supposed welcoming gesture ahead of Putin’s visit. While Democratic Alliance (DA) disagrees with the stance and has initiated a suit against it, the EFF movement has insisted that “Putin is welcomed.

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