The war which broke out in Sudan on 15 April is a conflict between two factions of the military regime which seized power in October 2021: the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces militia (which grew out of the Janjaweed paramilitary groups notorious for their role in genocide and ethnic cleansing in Darfur). The war is a disaster for the people of Sudan. The civilian population as a whole are being used a human shields in a conflict over political power and resources.
The revolutionary movement which mobilised millions on the streets and in the workplaces across Sudan to throw out the dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019 has taken a clear stance opposing both sides in the war, calling for an immediate ceasefire and the provision of humanitarian aid.
Trade unions, neighbourhood-based Resistance Committees and other grassroots organisations are appealing for international solidarity. Read on to find out what you can do to help.
Civilians in the firing line
Hospitals, schools, markets and ordinary people’s homes have been all been targetted by the warring sides. In a press conference on 16 May the Sudanese Doctors’ Union said that 20 hospitals had been forcibly evacuated and taken over as military bases. A further 50 are out of use or only providing very basic emergency care. Across the capital Khartoum drinking water, electricity supplies and access to food and medicine have been massively disrupted. The UN estimated in May that over 100,000 Sudanese refugees had fled to Egypt, 60,000 to Chad while hundreds of thousands of others had fled the fighting inside the country.
Resistance Committees
Activists from the neighbourhood-based Resistance Committees which have been the backbone of the mass movement mobilising for democracy since 2018 have played an essential role in providing aid, food and medical supplies. Volunteers are operating hospitals, electricity workers and water workers are reconnecting supplies and teachers opening schools to shelter refugees. Towns and villages outside Khartoum have donated food and opened their homes to those fleeing the fighting.
Stop the war machine
The two sides in this war are backed by regional powers allied with Britain: Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Israel. All have contributed weapons, training, intelligence to one or the other recently. The British government has also stoked the conflict directly by granting export licenses for military equipment to Sudan worth £188,000 in 2021-22, and by integrating the Rapid Support Forces and other elements of the Sudanese security forces into ‘migration management’ initiatives along with EU states. For acting as Fortress Europe’s proxy border guards, Sudanese government agencies received £187 million in 2017 alone.
Refugees welcome
Sudanese refugees seeking safety in Britain are being shut out by the government says Caitlin Boswell of refugee organisation JCWI. “The racism of the UK’s immigration system couldn’t be more clear, with this government drawing policies affecting people seeking safety along stark racial lines. At the same time, ministers are using unashamedly inflammatory and far-right language, whipping up hatred towards black and brown migrants.”
Sign our postcard to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak calling on the British government to stand with the people of Sudan
Dear Prime Minister
The people of Sudan are under attack, not from a foreign power, but from inside their own country. The leaders of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces militia are fighting each other and civilians across Sudan are paying the price. Air strikes and gunfire have wrecked hospitals, schools and homes, while ordinary people cannot access drinking water, food or electricity. According to human rights organisations, both sides have committed war crimes, including attacks on hospitals and medical personnel, while there are increasing reports of rape and sexual violence by military and militia fighters.
The two generals at war now seized power in a military coup in October 2021. The British government repeatedly legitimised their illegal regime, including welcoming General al-Burhan to Britain for the Queen’s state funeral.
It is time to stand with the people of Sudan for a change.
We call on you to:
- Tell Sudan’s military and militia generals they must stop the war
- Provide immediate humanitarian aid
- Stop all arms and military equipment reaching Sudan – including from countries allied to Britain such as UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt.
- Create safe, legal routes for Sudanese refugees to reach Britain
- Call on Sudan’s creditors including the IMF to cancel the debts as soon as a democratic civilian government takes office
Add your name below, or download and print out the postcard to send from your workplace
Sign the parliamentary petition
Sign the parliamentary petition calling for the creation of a Sudanese Family scheme visa.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/637279
Pass a resolution in your union branch
Stop the war in Sudan – Refugees welcome
This union notes devastation caused by war in Sudan. Civilians are paying the price for the military struggle to control the country’s government and resources.
This union believes foreign powers, including the British government, contributed to this conflict by pressing Sudanese democratic forces to negotiate power-sharing agreements with the warring military and militia generals. Regional states allied to Britain, including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Israel have fuelled the crisis through support to the combatants.
This union further believes that the British government has an obligation to provide safe, legal routes for Sudanese citizens to seek asylum in Britain. Many British citizens of Sudanese origin have faced the agony of seeing family members trapped by this conflict.
This union resolves to:
- Work with MENA Solidarity, other trade unions and Sudanese organisations to:
- Publicise the Sudan Solidarity Conference on 30 September called by MENA Solidarity and backed by NEU and UCU and make a donation of £XX to the conference costs
- Lobby parliamentarians
- Publicise solidarity actions to members including the parliamentary petition calling for the creation of a Sudanese Family Scheme Visa https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/637279
- Affiliate to MENA Solidarity
- Make a donation of £XXX to the Sudanese Doctors’ Union – UK appeal for medical supplies (tinyurl.com/sudanmedicalaid)
MENA Solidarity Network 