Over the past 14 months, all sense of normalcy, peace and stability has been under a brutal siege in Sudan. To the world’s dismay, including Sudanese people living within and outside of the country, the current war in Sudan was launched on April 15, 2023, when seriously rising tensions erupted in the streets of Khartoum between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Services (RSF).
Since then, the latest data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) says that nearly 10 million people have been displaced, and the World Food Program reports that around 26 million are now acutely food insecure. The death toll is staggering in both what we can confirm and what is yet to be known due to varying reports coming out of the country. As late as June 18 of this year, the reported number of people killed is well over 15,000.
Over 7,000 miles away from Minneapolis, the war that has been unfolding in Sudan may seem like a distant conflict. However, the diverse and flourishing Black diaspora in Minnesota encompasses a Sudanese population that has family, friends, and neighbors fighting for their lives and livelihoods in Sudan and in countries where they’ve been forced to resettle for some semblance of refuge. The Spokesman-Recorder talked to three Minnesotans with Sudanese origins to hear more about the complex and compounding impact the war has had on them.
Community organizer Saria Abubaker shared the pain she’s experienced in witnessing the media coverage minimize the dynamics of the war, including the history that precedes April 15, 2023, and how other countries and institutions are implicated in enabling the war.
“I’d like to challenge the narrative of ‘Oh, this is just corruption in Africa, or this is just how African politics is’ that is very dismissive and very hurtful to the reality of what is taking place on the ground,” she said.
Saria was born in Sudan and moved to Minnesota when she was seven. Her Nubian parents, who hail from the Halfawi and Mahasi people, have lived in Sudan’s capital for over six or seven generations.
Saria continued, “We have to survive here, but I don’t know who I’m going to send money to this month. Not only do we have to make sure we take care of our mental health, but we’re also taking care of our families as well.”
Mohamed Yousif, who was born in El-Obeid, a village several hours southwest of Khartoum, says that what is missing from the narrative of what is taking place in Sudan is the impact of the war on the lives of Sudanese civilians. These details help demonstrate the carnage that has materialized, Mohamed explains.
“When a person is displaced, so many memories are destroyed, and so much of familiar life has completely changed. People have lost generational wealth. They’ve lost homes that their parents, grandparents, and ancestors have worked centuries to preserve, build, and pass on. And within a few months, all of that work is just lost instantly,” he said.
Mohamed, who holds both Minnesota and Sudan as home, went on to highlight the deafening silence that is shrouding a specific population in Darfur, far outside of the capital city.
“They are being systematically erased from the earth, and because they aren’t from the capital or the surrounding areas, they don’t have technological means or as many families outside [of Sudan] who can tell their stories,” he stated. “So we’re only getting glimpses of what is happening there, but by the time we get those glimpses of what is happening, it’s already too late.”
Aya Elmileik, audience development and engagement strategist for Al Jazeera English Podcasts, calls Sudan, Japan, Qatar, and for the past 24 years, Rochester, Minnesota, home. As a media professional, she is moved to name what may be at play in the dim coverage of the war in Sudan.
“No one can help but think in the back of their mind, at the end of the day, it’s a majority Muslim country, they are Black, and they are in Africa,” she said. “When you give a story or a situation attention as much as possible, it puts pressure on those that are harming, those that are causing these catastrophes in Darfur, Khartoum, and all across Sudan.”
Aya, Mohamed and Saria all emphasized the critical need for more people in Minnesota and beyond to pay attention and their hearts to the war that has produced a sprawling humanitarian calamity.
“There are so many Sudanese people here, and they love being in Minnesota; they are proud to be from Minnesota, and they’ll stand [in solidarity] with different communities. It would feel nice that we feel supported and seen and that people understand that we’re going through something really hard to explain,” Aya said.
All three advised Minnesotans to stay updated on the war in Sudan by contacting Sudanese people in their communities, posting about it on social media, and including the war in their communications to elected officials.
Binta Kanteh welcomes reader comments at bkanteh13@gmail.com.