Green Shoots: We cannot ignore the crisis in Sudan anymore
This call in June 2025 from Dr Francis Deng, one of Sudan's most eminent elder statesmen, has not made the headlines in South Africa's media. This is a forgotten conflict that is causing the largest humanitarian disaster in the world. It's in Africa. It's our continent. Sudan must be our concern.
I visited the country with some Catholic bishops in 1999 when people in the south of Sudan was still fighting for their self-determination that would come in 2011 with the formation of South Sudan. We started in Khartoum, the capital where the Blue Nile and White Nile meet to continue as Africa's longest river. At that time Omar al Bashir was in charge having taken power in a coup. But his regime was removed by the 2019 popular uprising, continuing Sudan's proud history of non-violent resistance (intifada) against military dictatorships in 1964 and 1985.
The military have always sprung back, though, as happened in this phase of the country's life. This time the fighting began in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The RSF is a paramilitary militia formed by the Sudanese government before 2019, and was commanded by the SAF to put down internal resistance and carry out attacks in areas seen as threats to the regime's power. They were involved with the SAF in the violent crackdown on the 2019 pro-democracy uprising. It is hard to simplify the causes of the 2023 conflict between these two armies are, but it is not surprising they both are deeply embedded in Sudan's economy. Both sides stand to lose both power and wealth if they lose the conflict.
Both believe they can win militarily, so there is little chance that serious peace negotiations are on the cards. As is always the case when control of resources is at stake, there are various countries getting involved supporting either side including Libya, Chad, Kenya, Egypt, Ethiopia, South Sudan, as well as UAE, Russia, and others. Understanding fully those agendas might not be within my ambit, but I have no doubt they align with the usual scrambling for power by countries driven by self-interest.
Among the solutions proposed include setting up two rival governments, effectively dividing the country into two. This approach hasn't worked in Libya after Obama engineered the removed of Gaddafi, and Sudan supporters don't see this is a viable option. It would also very much just create two military dictatorships, however much they pretend otherwise.
Amidst the war crimes and abuse being perpetrated by both sides in the conflict, Sudanese people continue to provide non-violent resistance, and that is where we must focus our solidarity efforts. The Emergency Response Rooms (ERR) have emerged spontaneously to provide humanitarian support including food to millions of Sudanese despite funding shortages, obstacles, and violations against their members. Importantly, they also provide a degree of organisation and security to people. This is a whole new model of both resistance and aid, informal and decentralised, which the international community has struggled to understand and to engage with.
There are calls that the ERRs must be given a strong voice in whatever negotiations take place as they genuinely represent the people. The traditional political parties, NGOs and civil society organisations have little credibility compared to the ERRs. This will be important in shaping the conditions for accountability later on for the crimes committed by these armed groups.
We need to talk about Sudan more in our circles – at home, at work, in our places of worship. We have to heed Francis Deng's appeal to not forget, to resist indifference, to not let the complexity of the conflict immobilise us. The organisation Pax Christi International has launched a series of webinars called 'Sudan Speaks: Voices from a Forgotten Crisis and Hopes for Peace'. We can participate online at this link - https://paxchristi.net/webinars-sudan-speaks/ - where we may find practical ways to support grassroots action in Sudan, and maybe also influence our own governments to do more. We do not have the privilege of silence or indifference. We do have a duty to show solidarity.
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