Current atrocities in Darfur – what can you do to help?
Violence and persecution have escalated dramatically in Sudan in recent months, with reports of the rape, murder and torture of citizens in the West Darfur region. Here we outline simple actions you can take to support those affected.
Image: Protesters calling for a civilian government held large protests in Khartoum to commemorate those who were killed, June 30 2019, in Khartoum, Sudan © David Degner / Getty
The violence in Sudan has been worsening since two rival generals went to war against each other in April. Janjaweed militias and Rapid Support Forces (made up of former members of the Janjaweed) are targeting non-Arab people and institutions, with reports of daily human rights violations such as sexual violence, murder, burning, looting, abduction and torture. Entire villages have been burnt to the ground and essential resources such as food, water, power and medicine destroyed.
Due to communications being cut off in many areas, reporting on the situation has been minimal. This makes it even more important that we continue to raise awareness of this appalling breach of human rights.
A variety of charities and civil service organisations have warned that if left unchecked, the current cycle of violence could become worse than the genocide that started in 2003 in Darfur.
On 20 June our partner organisations Waging Peace and Protection Approaches gave evidence on the current situation in Sudan at the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. Maddy Crowther, Co-Executive Director at Waging Peace, said:
The scale of the violence is truly catastrophic. Hearing from the UK Sudanese community on Sunday, people had eight or ten or five family members each die in Darfur.
Two days later, Vicky Ford MP raised an urgent question about Darfur in Parliament. She said:
Systemic ethnic cleansing is taking place in Darfur, Sudan right now. Boys aged over 10 are being murdered. Girls over 12 are being raped. We do not know the death toll, but an eye-witness says it is already in the thousands.
We call on you to support those affected, both in Sudan and those living here in the UK, by helping to raise awareness of this devastating situation. Below is a list of simple actions you can take today.
- Waging Peace, Protection Approaches and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT) are all sharing information about the situation on social media. Please follow us and share our posts.
– Follow Waging Peace on Twitter and Facebook
– Follow HMDT on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook
– Follow Protection Approaches on Twitter - There has been minimal reporting on the current situation in Sudan, due to the destruction of communication systems, but we encourage you to read as much as you can from trustworthy news outlets to keep abreast of the ongoing crisis, and to share articles with friends and family. These articles from the past few months provide some insight into how the violence has escalated.
- Watch the parliamentary discussion on the urgent question about Sudan.
- Write to your Member of Parliament to ensure that they are aware of what is happening and to ask them to support the Sudanese community here in the UK and in Sudan. Click on the link to find your local representative.
- Support Sudanese refugees living in the UK by finding a local refugee charity or Sudanese community group to offer support, or find out more about how you can help Sudanese refugees here.
- Support us to continue to raise awareness of the situation in Darfur and other genocides by donating to HMDT.
