As the war in Sudan enters its third year, the likelihood of a speedy resolution has long expired. At the moment, more high-profile conflicts seem to hold the limelight, dominating western media, meaning the average person is perhaps less aware about the suffering of the Sudanese people. However, whether we pay attention or not, accusations of genocide and ethnic cleansing have loomed over the war in Sudan. Therefore, we must strive to ensure that our focus broadens to also take into account the smaller conflicts often pushed from the front pages in today’s busy media. But where did this all start?

Sudan is a nation already wrought with a complicated history, mired by colonisation, dictatorship and human rights atrocities. The past decade has seen several military coups, such as in 2019 when President Omar Al-Bashir was ousted from power by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) after almost three decades of dictatorship. During this time, Al-Bashir had been tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for human rights offences in Darfur, offences enabled and committed by his paramilitary group, Janjaweed. 2021 saw another military coup where the SAF seized control of the government. The civil war it is currently engulfed by, began on 15^th April 2023. The ‘Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF), formed in 2013 with origins from the Janjaweed group, led an attempted coup against the Government, igniting the conflict that has been brutally waged throughout the nation for the last two years. Unsurprisingly the history of the RSF has rung alarm bells within the UN, with growing concerns of the group committing atrocities in Darfur in modern times.

While in Ukraine and Gaza, the anguish of civilians has been clearly heard around the world, the Sudanese are comparitvely voiceless

A recent UN article outlines reports of executions, reprisal attacks on civilians and aid workers, rape and sexual violence. This weaponisation of terror and torment constitutes as war crimes, and is worryingly not isolated to Darfur, but the wider conflict. In September 2024, the UN established that both sides had committed an ‘appalling range of harrowing human rights violations and international crimes’, cementing the suffering civilians face in this conflict. At this stage, it is impossible to determine an exact number of deaths in the conflict, although there are figures which suggest the toll may reach as high as 150,000 people and over 12.4 million people have been displaced. Despite this displacement figure being slightly larger than that of the war in Ukraine (over 11 million according to the UNHCR), the coverage surrounding the conflict has been minimal in comparison. This fact is what makes the suffering of those in Sudan so abhorrent in our current political climate. While in Ukraine and Gaza, the anguish of civilians has been clearly heard around the world, the Sudanese are comparatively voiceless.  

As the war rages, it is unclear who will emerge victorious but, it is safe to say the war will not end soon. The RSF and SAF have similar capabilities, with each side having similar technological access. This has meant both sides have struggled to gain a meaningful advantage over the other. At the time of writing, the RSF maintain a firm grip over Darfur however the rest of the country remains in chaos, with the emergence of rebel groups adding further complexity and preventing a return to order. Villages and towns move through the hands of all parties as the conflict progresses, undermining the attempts by the rebels, the RSF and the SAF to consolidate control in the nation. For this reason, no single party has enough bargaining power to use in negotiations and so the likelihood of a diplomatic settlement is low.

So, I ask you to keep the people of Sudan in mind as this war rages on with seemingly no end in sight. While the images of the destruction in Gaza and Ukraine easily come to mind, the same loss is being felt in Sudan. Don’t allow the war in Sudan to become a forgotten war, the vile acts being committed there to go unnoticed, and the people of Sudan to be silenced by disinterest.

Image: smahel via Pixabay