Genocide in Sudan

By Vivienne Cato

The following piece describing the current situation in Sudan is a compilation from various sources, including Waging Peace and Human Rights Watch Sudan.

War broke out in Sudan on 15 April 2023. In June 2023 the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – formerly known as the Janjaweed (‘devils on horseback’) – descended upon El Geneina, the first major city in West Darfur. Their target was mostly people from the Massalit tribe. The second major Darfur city, Nyala, was attacked several months later, targeting black Africans. While massacres occurred elsewhere in Darfur, upon villages and even civilians in IDP camps, the RSF’s plan was to ‘take’ the entirety of Darfur with El Fasher as the last major city.

El Fasher is now surrounded by the RSF, with little intervention from the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) military. That poses the question: why isn’t the SAF protecting civilians? El Fasher is one of the few remaining sites where ‘black African’ Darfuris were seeking safety within the region. The city is today encircled by RSF fighters and allied Arab militia, and there is the imminent likelihood that many hundreds of thousands will be killed if no action is taken immediately. RSF attacks have reportedly been characterised by excessive indiscriminate violence, including sexual violence, looting of personal belongings from homes and markets, demolition of residential and commercial structures, destruction and burning of villages, theft of livestock, and destruction of crops. Sexual violence against women and girls in particular is rampant. In affected communities where women are being raped, RSF are saying to their victims that their aim is to ‘change the DNA of the baby’ – meaning they intend to eradicate black Africans.

According to the latest monthly data compiled by the International Organisation for Migration, 786,816 individuals (1,352,268 households) have been recently internally displaced as of 25 April 2024 and an estimated 2,075,369 mixed cross-border movements have been made into neighbouring countries.
Targeting the Massalit people and other non-Arab communities by committing serious violations against them, with the apparent objective of at least having them permanently leave the region, constitutes ethnic cleansing. The particular context in which the widespread killings took place also raises the possibility that the RSF and their allies have the intent to destroy in whole or in part the Massalit in at least West Darfur, which would indicate that genocide has been and/or is being committed there.

These acts were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the Massalit and other non-Arab civilian populations of Massalit-majority neighbourhoods, and as such also constitute the crimes against humanity of murder, torture, persecution, and forcible transfer of the civilian population, according to Human Rights Watch.

The possibility that genocide has been and/or is being committed in Darfur requires urgent action from all governments and international institutions to protect civilians. They should ensure investigation as to whether the facts demonstrate a specific intent on the part of the RSF leadership and its allies to destroy in whole or in part the Massalit and other non-Arab ethnic communities in West Darfur – that is, to commit genocide. If so, they should act to prevent its further perpetration, and to ensure that those responsible for its planning and conduct are brought to justice.

Regarding the UK, Sudanese make up a huge number of those who reach this country. Sudan has historically been among the top nationalities for those claiming asylum in the UK, and according to the latest Home Office immigration statistics was the seventh highest nationality grouping in the year to March 2024. In these same statistics it was highlighted that almost all (99%) Sudanese nationals receive a grant of status at initial decision. However, this obscures a more complex picture, which is that many cases these asylum seekers were offered grants of ‘humanitarian protection’ rather than refugee status, now offered to one in four applicants. This can obscure the ethnically based nature of persecution in the country. The result was inadequate council housing provision, meaning many Sudanese and other nationalities were left ‘street homeless’ over the winter period.

You may wish to write to your MP about the situation in Sudan and regarding refugees in the UK, and to petition the prime minister and Foreign Secretary, as well as to speak to local media. Another option is to offer support to local Sudanese groups or individuals.