标签： Oceania

The long-running brutal civil conflict in Sudan took a sharp new turn this week, after Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo ordered his fighters to operate with full freedom, just days after the Sudanese army reclaimed control of a strategic highway connecting the capital Khartoum to the contested city of El-Obeid in North Kordofan.

Daglo, whose paramilitary force has already been formally accused of carrying out genocide in Sudan’s western Darfur region, announced the new order in a pre-recorded video address released to the public on Monday. “From today, I no longer hold the reins, I have released the reins to you,” he told frontline RSF fighters, a declaration that came just 24 hours after the Sudanese army pushed RSF fighters off the critical 400-kilometer highway after a multi-day offensive.

For weeks, United Nations officials have issued urgent warnings that the RSF was preparing a large-scale assault to encircle and seize El-Obeid, the largest city in the Kordofan region, raising fears of widespread mass atrocities against the civilian population. The ongoing conflict between Daglo’s RSF and Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, which broke out in April 2023 between the two former coup allies, has already triggered what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe. Aid worker estimates place the total death toll from the conflict at more than 200,000 people, with millions more displaced and facing acute hunger across the country.

The RSF traces its origins back to the notorious Janjaweed militia, which carried out widespread mass killings and ethnic cleansing in Darfur during the early 2000s. Last year, the RSF completed its full takeover of Darfur, an offensive that UN investigators confirmed bears all the “hallmarks of genocide”. After consolidating control over Darfur, the RSF turned its attention to neighboring Kordofan, where it has been locked in a deadly stalemate with the Sudanese army for months. Both sides have carried out relentless drone strikes in the region, which have killed more than 1,000 civilians since the start of 2024.

Two anonymous Sudanese army sources confirmed to Agence France-Presse on Monday that after days of steady advances across North Kordofan, army forces successfully pushed RSF fighters west of the Khartoum-El-Obeid highway over the weekend. El-Obeid, a critical crossroads hub that currently hosts around one million people including hundreds of thousands of displaced people from other conflict zones, sits at the intersection of two key trade and military routes: a north-south highway connecting Khartoum to Sudan’s southern border, and an east-west corridor linking RSF-held Darfur to army-controlled central and eastern Sudan. For months, both factions have fought to cut off the other’s supply lines around the city.

On Monday, the Sudanese army released footage showing Burhan visiting Jabrat al-Sheikh, one of the last RSF strongholds along the recaptured highway, flanked by the top leaders of the two main allied militias that supported the army’s offensive: Darfur governor and Joint Forces commander Minni Minawi, and Sudan Shield Forces commander Abu Aqla Kaykal.

For civilians trapped in El-Obeid, where hundreds of thousands of people are already in desperate need of life-saving humanitarian aid, the reopening of the highway has raised tentative hopes of improved access to food and basic goods. Sabreen Mohamed, a long-time El-Obeid resident, told AFP that “the highway opening means goods can flow” into the besieged city. For most of the war, civilians have been forced to rely entirely on a single eastern route leading to the White Nile, a road that is regularly targeted by deadly RSF drone attacks, and remains closed to large-scale civilian movement.

Early on Tuesday, RSF drone strikes hit multiple locations inside El-Obeid, destroying the local branch of the Agricultural Bank of Sudan and the headquarters of the local lawyers’ association. No casualties were reported in the attack, but the damage to key public infrastructure underscores the ongoing risk to civilian life in the city. Mohamed dismissed the strikes as the “death throes” of the retreating RSF, noting that retaliatory attacks on civilian targets have become a predictable pattern after every army advance. “We’re used to it, every time the army advances, they retaliate against North Kordofan,” she said.

While both the army and the RSF have been credibly accused of committing war crimes, including indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas, the army is broadly viewed more favorably by civilians in regions that have born the brunt of RSF atrocities. El-Obeid was fully besieged by the RSF from the start of the war in April 2023 until February 2024, when the army first broke the siege. Since then, repeated RSF attacks on roads, residential neighborhoods and critical infrastructure including power stations have deepened the humanitarian crisis, with the UN confirming that only a small fraction of the city’s population has consistent access to enough food.

In a major drug enforcement operation carried out by New South Wales police in Sydney, two Scottish citizens have been taken into custody and formally charged following the seizure of more than 100 kilograms of ketamine, a controlled prohibited substance.

The pair — 30-year-old Jack Farrelly and 23-year-old Demi McDaid — were apprehended on June 29 during a coordinated raid on a hotel located in North Sydney. Law enforcement officers located 105 kilograms of ketamine hidden in the boot of a rental car parked inside the hotel’s private car park, authorities confirmed. A subsequent search of the hotel room occupied by the two suspects turned up additional evidence linked to alleged drug trafficking activities: multiple mobile devices, handwritten documents that police claim are records of drug transactions, and approximately A$2,000 (equal to around £1,051) in untraceable cash.

The hotel raid was not the first action taken in this ongoing investigation. Three days before Farrelly and McDaid’s arrest, NSW police executed a separate search warrant at a short-term rental property on Hampden Road in Artarmon, a North Shore Sydney suburb situated roughly 8 kilometers from the Sydney central business district. At that location, officers seized an additional 2 kilograms of suspected ketamine, along with drug processing paraphernalia including digital scales, disposable gloves, clear resealable bags that tested positive for white crystalline ketamine residue, and personal luggage belonging to unknown persons.

Following their arrest, the two accused were transported to Chatswood Police Station for processing and questioning. During their first court appearance at Manly Local Court on June 30, both Farrelly and McDaid were denied bail by the presiding magistrate. They are scheduled to make their next court appearance at the Downing Centre Local Court on August 26.

The charges brought against the pair are two separate counts related to illegal drug supply: one count of supplying a prohibited drug in a quantity above the indictable threshold but below the commercial quantity, and a second more severe count of supplying a prohibited drug in a quantity that meets or exceeds the large commercial quantity standard under Australian law. NSW Police have stated that prosecutors will argue the two Scottish nationals traveled to Australia with the explicit intention of coordinating the distribution and sale of large volumes of controlled illicit drugs.

A spokesperson for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office confirmed that consular support is being provided to the two British detainees, and that the department maintains ongoing contact with Australian local law enforcement and judicial authorities. NSW police have also noted that their broader investigation into the alleged drug trafficking network is still active, with additional developments expected as the case progresses toward trial.

In a move that adds to a growing wave of withdrawals from the International Criminal Court (ICC), the central African nation of Chad announced Monday it would exit the Hague-based tribunal, citing longstanding criticisms of the court’s uneven effectiveness and its disproportionate focus on African nations.

Chad becomes the fifth country in recent months to launch withdrawal procedures, following Venezuela, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger — all of which have raised similar objections to the ICC’s mandate and operations. The announcement comes just days after ICC member states voted to remove chief prosecutor Karim Khan over unproven sexual assault allegations that Khan, 56, has categorically denied. His legal team has already announced plans to challenge the dismissal, questioning both the legality and fairness of the decision reached by member states.

In an official statement released by the government, Chadian officials confirmed the exit decision followed a comprehensive review of the ICC’s performance since the court first began operations in 2002. The review, the statement said, confirmed longstanding concerns that the tribunal’s impact has remained limited and inconsistent across global regions.

A core point of criticism from Chad is the ICC’s disproportionate focus on African states. Since the court entered into force, 9 of its 13 active investigations target African nations, while only four probes have been opened in other regions — none of which have yielded meaningful progress, according to the Chadian government. To date, the court holds just seven individuals in custody, six of whom are linked to African conflict situations, the statement added.

The timeline of the decision has sparked controversy over external influence: last week, an initial posting on the Chadian foreign minister’s official website claimed the withdrawal came in response to a request from the United States. The statement noted that U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for African Affairs had pressed Chadian officials to re-evaluate their ICC membership during a Thursday telephone call with Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Sabre Fadoul, adding that U.S. officials had raised their own concerns about the court’s functionality and urged Chad to reconsider its ratification of the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC. However, Fadoul pushed back on that narrative Friday, telling AFP that “it was not at the Americans’ request that we decided to withdraw from the ICC.”

Chad’s exit announcement also arrives amid heightened international scrutiny of the country’s role in the ongoing civil conflict in neighboring Sudan. The Sudanese army and multiple international non-governmental organizations have accused Chadian authorities of allowing the United Arab Emirates to ship weapons through Chadian territory to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group fighting Sudan’s sitting government.

Legal advocates warn that the withdrawal will complicate ongoing efforts to hold actors accountable for potential war crimes in the region. French lawyer Vincent Brengarth, who submitted a formal report on the alleged weapons transfers to the ICC on behalf of NGOs, said Chad’s exit undermines the chances of the accountability initiative succeeding. “Beyond this case, this withdrawal weakens the international architecture of criminal justice and heightens fears that the perpetrators of the most serious crimes will escape any prosecution,” Brengarth said.

Chad’s decision fits into a rapidly growing trend of rejection of the ICC among nations across Africa and Latin America. Last Friday, Venezuela formally confirmed its own withdrawal, also citing claims of institutional bias. Venezuela’s exit comes as the ICC conducts an active investigation into alleged crimes against humanity committed under the government of President Nicolás Maduro. Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger — all Sahel nations currently led by military governments — have previously denounced the ICC as an “instrument of neocolonial repression in the hands of imperialism.”

Earlier this month, the ICC’s executive leadership issued a formal statement expressing deep concern over the withdrawal of the three West African nations, noting that repeated exits undermine the global effort to deliver justice for mass atrocities. The growing number of departures has sparked new debate over the court’s legitimacy and its ability to fairly prosecute grave crimes across all regions of the world.

Against a backdrop of escalating anti-foreign-national violence and growing domestic political pressure, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has issued a urgent call for coordinated collective action among African nations to manage cross-border migration, warning that the continent cannot tackle the unfolding crisis through isolated national efforts alone.

Ramaphosa delivered his appeal during an official session of the Pan-African Parliament, the legislative arm of the African Union, on Monday. His address comes after weeks of widespread xenophobic protests across South Africa, where fringe activist groups have scapegoated undocumented African migrants for the country’s persistent crime rates, high unemployment, and overstretched public infrastructure and services.

The current wave of unrest traces its origins to demonstrations that began in 2024, centered on disputes over undocumented migrants’ access to public healthcare. Tensions surged sharply this year when extremist xenophobic groups issued a deadline demanding all undocumented foreign nationals leave South Africa by June 30. To date, the violence has claimed at least four confirmed migrant lives, though several foreign governments have stated the actual death toll is significantly higher. According to an Agence France-Presse count compiled from data provided by repatriating governments, more than 160,000 foreign nationals have left South Africa over the past two months, marking one of the largest coordinated migrant exoduses the country has seen in recent history.

“Unmanaged cross-border movement poses a tangible risk to regional security and social cohesion, and no single country can confront this challenge on its own,” Ramaphosa told lawmakers. “As African states, we must first recognize and address the root conditions that force people to leave their home countries in search of safety and opportunity. These include ongoing conflict, political instability, failed governance systems, widespread poverty, and deep social division.”

Ramaphosa explicitly condemned the ongoing attacks, describing the violence as “sad and abhorrent.” “We in South Africa deeply regret and mourn every life lost to this hatred,” he said. “Our government has taken a firm, unwavering stand against xenophobia, Afrophobia, and hatred directed at people from other African nations.”

This latest outbreak of anti-migrant violence has drawn sharp condemnation from across the continent. Ghana, which has been one of the most vocal critics of the attacks, has pushed the African Union to convene a formal debate on the crisis. Two Ghanaian citizens have also submitted a petition to the International Criminal Court calling for a formal investigation into repeated xenophobic attacks in South Africa, a move that South African officials have dismissed as “opportunistic.”

As Africa’s most industrialized and wealthiest economy, South Africa has long been a magnet for economic migrants and asylum seekers from poorer and conflict-affected nations across the continent. But the country has grappled with recurring cycles of xenophobic violence for nearly 20 years. The deadliest outbreak on record occurred in 2008, when anti-immigrant riots left 62 people dead and displaced thousands more. Subsequent waves of violence followed in 2015 and 2016, and 2019 attacks left at least 12 people dead, most of whom were South African citizens caught up in the unrest.

What sets the 2024 crisis apart from previous outbreaks is the unprecedented coordinated response: for the first time, multiple African governments have organized simultaneous voluntary repatriation programs to move thousands of their citizens out of South Africa amid ongoing threats.