LONDON

The EU is "partly responsible" for the violation of Sudanese children's rights due to the "one-sided focus" on strict border control, according to a rights group.

The rights of Sudanese refugee children are being systematically violated on a large scale, and the EU is "partly responsible," Julia Verheul from Save the Children said about the group's recent research on the experiences of 66 children who fled Sudan.

"We launched this research to map the physical and psychological harm children endure before they arrive in the EU," she was quoted by the NOS broadcaster on Wednesday as saying.

According to the group, children are paying the price for the increasingly strict EU policy, as "the one-sided focus on strict border control" is driving the most vulnerable unaccompanied children into the hands of smugglers and making them invisible to aid workers."

Speaking to the broadcaster, a 15-year-old girl from Sudan, who is currently in Egypt, said she fled Sudan after her father was murdered.

She said that she is happy to be safe now, and added that if possible, she wants to return to her country to become a doctor.

An 18-year-old Sudanese, who fled soon after the start of the war in Sudan, said: "The rebel army raided our neighbors' house and took the children away. Some of them never returned."

Verheul said that children are being locked up, arrested, and sent back to countries that are "completely unsafe, even to Sudan."

The EU invests hundreds of millions in border control without checking whether children's rights are being respected, she stressed, noting that the violations of these children's rights are becoming increasingly serious.

"It is unbelievable that the EU not only allows this to continue but also actively contributes to it," Verheul added.

The conflict in Sudan between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which began in April 2023, has killed at least 40,000 people and displaced 12 million, according to the World Health Organization.