Aisha Ismail Wazir has made tea, and is serving me some of the leftovers from yesterday’s bread baking. Almost all her money comes from selling the tasty bread. As a Sudanese refugee in Chad, she has no fields and few job opportunities in Chad. She is actually only in Chad on borrowed time, until peace comes to her homeland, Sudan. But now 20 years have passed since Aisha fled from Darfur, in western Sudan, and across the border to Chad. At that time there was also widespread violence in Darfur, as it is now. The brutality of the war 14 million people. Almost three times as many as live in Norway are now fleeing their home in Sudan. Nabolanda takes most of the brunt, the auxiliary capacity is blown. The enormous number of refugees is completely fresh and shockingly high. Civilians are often the targets of attacks in the ongoing war. No one is really held accountable for what happens. Sudan’s people consist of both Arab and African ethnic groups. For years there has been conflict between these groups. And this contrast is especially clear in Darfur. Now the powerful RSF militia is at war with Sudan’s army. The war is about power in Sudan, and for the RSF it is extra important to have control over the whole of Darfur, which they see as their home area. But there are many others living in Darfur who do not want that to happen. Masalit, Fur and Zaghawa are ethnic groups with people of African appearance. They have experienced that the “Arabs”, as they call the RSF soldiers, can be brutal towards anyone with darker skin. And the soldiers know that they most likely got away with what they were doing. Rapes, destruction of villages and cold-blooded murders of people. The videos circulating online are brutal, and the videos are also difficult to verify. But they are disturbingly similar to the stories that the refugees tell. Far below budget When I met Aisha, she was disappointed. She lives in one of the “old” refugee camps where everyone has had financial support from the UN cut, which they were quite dependent on. Aisha Ismail Wazir leads a women’s group in the oldest refugee camp on the border between Sudan and Chad. Photo: Vegard Tjørhom / news Now they see a new generation of refugees pouring out of Sudan. They are all fighting for the same emergency aid. But the UN’s budget for emergency aid to Sudanese refugees in Chad only covers 15 per cent. For the entire Sudan crisis, 54 percent of this year’s budget is currently covered. It is the UN and the international community that they must go to for help now that they have fled from everything they owned. In Sudan, no one cares, and Chad has more than enough to cope with the pressure of refugees. But when the aid budget barely covers it, then it must be given top priority. – Why do so few care about what happens here, asks Aisha. She asks the question because we are talking about the money that is missing from the budget. I remain seated to give Aisha a long explanation with possible explanations. I mention the focus on Gaza and Ukraine, higher food prices, bad exchange rates and a political shift in several European countries which, in sum, has a big impact on the budget. But all my attempts to explain ring a little hollow. The gigantic number of refugees speaks for itself. Those numbers are reason enough for the help to have been greater. I feel that I should actually talk about the elephant in the room: Maybe we care less about people from Sudan? But I never dare to say that out loud in front of Aisha. (The case continues after the podcast link) Never again? The number of Sudanese refugees has increased month by month since the war between the Sudanese army and the RSF militia started in April last year. This week, the world’s IOM (International Organization for Migration) released new figures on Sudanese refugees. And there are therefore 14 million people on the run. Play is important. A couple of boys have found entertainment in a wrecked car, right on the border between Chad and Sudan. Photo: Vegard Tjørhom / news And it doesn’t stop there, because the war is still raging in full force. “Never again” has been a mantra in the international community, but in just 18 months the crisis in Sudan has entered the history books as one of the worst crises ever. Once again, the UN Security Council becomes an extra in the face of a brutal war. Attempts have been made to mediate peace, resolutions have been adopted that condemn attacks on civilians, but in the end it has been shown that few have the power to stop the disaster in Sudan. And there are reasons for that. On the border between Chad and Sudan I witnessed a central problem. Because at the same time as thousands of refugees streamed across the border from Sudan to Chad, many hundreds of donkey carts rolled in the opposite direction – into Sudan. The barges were fully loaded with oil drums. – There are supplies of fuel for the RSF, someone whispers to me. I hardly thought it could be true. Here, desperate people are fleeing Sudan in droves. And just two meters away, precious fuel is rolling in for the militia from which they are fleeing. The RSF militia is a regular in a long series of reports that tell about attacks on civilians, rape as a weapon and ethnic cleansing. The Sudan war is about more than Sudan But still such a brutal group gets support? Yes, because the war in Sudan is a battle for power, money and Sudan’s great wealth. In addition, the country is very strategically located along the Red Sea, and at the crossroads between the Middle East and Africa. In other words, everyone who is on the side of the victors can benefit from it in the future. It is also no secret that there is money to be made from selling weapons to warring parties. The Sudan war has become a regional conflict, where the parties have many supporting players. At the same time, there are few of the world’s major powers who prioritize solving the Sudan war when other wars probably take so much attention and resources. There are huge numbers of refugee tents in the far east of Chad, right next to Darfur. Photo: Vegard Tjørhom / news The most important Sudanese, the civilian population, are given far less space than the armed groups, and are seen on the sidelines. RSF has support players in Chad who bring in supplies, but perhaps even more important is the support they receive from the United Arab Emirates. The Emirates apologize for providing such support. But among diplomats and experts, most are convinced that gold and money from Sudan find their way to Dubai, while weapons are transported in the opposite direction. On the opposite side in the Sudan war is the Emirates’ rival, Saudi Arabia. They support Sudan’s army. So does Egypt. It is not necessarily helpful that several of the same countries are central to the attempt at peace negotiations. Trust between the parties is too low for real negotiations to begin. Is all hope lost? No. A few years ago, optimism was alive and well in Sudan. A major popular uprising had led to a democratization process. But part of the process was for the army and the RSF militia to cooperate. They failed to do that, and instead threw the country into one of the worst wars in recent world history. Now the civilian Sudan is scattered to all winds, and as long as the war rages they have little to contend with. But Sudan’s people are many and powerful, and many of them have not given up their dream of democracy. In the days before this year’s Nobel Prize was to be announced, the Sudanese everyday heroes received well-deserved attention. Groups of volunteers who risk their lives every day to help their countrymen were named as favorites to win the world’s most famous award. This year’s Nobel Prize did not go to Sudan’s many civilians, but perhaps more people have now learned what forces actually hold the key to Sudan’s long-term solutions. The day the war is over, people will return home. If civil society in Sudan has received the support they need, and the international community has signed up again, then perhaps the well-known mantra: “Never again” can be brought forward again. Published 02.11.2024, at 16.41
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Sudan has become the mother of all crises – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
