A year of war and counting

Sudanese Americans living in Arizona reflect on their advocacy efforts over time

by Fatima Gabir

Photos by Lavanya Paliwal

Over a year of war in Sudan and nothing has changed. Sudanese people all over the diaspora are drowning in grief as their home country suffers widespread destruction and the world ignores their screams. Sudanese activists continue to speak out against the war despite being thousands of miles away, while struggling to get bystanders to care about the atrocities of sexual violence, famine, destruction, displacement, death and horror on the ground.

My mother visited Egypt this past spring and noted the somber mood among Sudanese people — including her brothers and sisters — who had to flee to Egypt for safety. She saw how depressed they were from financial problems, experiencing trouble with their stay visa and getting no help from the government since they were displaced in April 2023. My family’s hardship is just one example of the struggles Sudanese people are facing worldwide as a result of the war.

Imagine the region you currently live in has over 25 million people at risk of the world’s largest hunger crisis.

That’s exactly what people in Sudan, South Sudan and Chad have faced since the war began.

On April 15, 2023, fighting between the nation’s military group, Sudanese Armed Forces, and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces broke out in Sudan’s capital city Khartoum. Since then, almost 15,000 people have been killed and Sudan has faced the worst displacement crisis in the world.

Tensions rose following the Sudanese Revolution in April 2019 when former President Omar al-Bashir’s 30-year regime ended, which was riddled with humanitarian crises. The dictator is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.

After the revolution, an agreement on a transitional government was signed between civilian forces and the military, forming the Transitional Sovereignty Council. In October 2021, SAF leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan led the Sudanese army in a coup to seize power from the civilian representatives in the council, interrupting Sudan’s path to democracy.

Al-Burhan repeatedly said the military would return authority to elected civilians, and he ended up striking a deal with Sudan’s prime minister to reestablish the council and share power; however, the prime minister’s role dramatically shrank as part of the deal, and he resigned, leaving de facto control of Sudan to al-Burhan.

Al-Burhan is now leading the SAF in the war against his former second-in-command, Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, who turned against him and is now leading the RSF. The RSF originated as the Janjaweed, Arab tribal militias armed by Omar al-Bashir to fight against ethnically African rebel groups in Darfur. Both sides are fighting for control over the country and its resources.

Significant destruction has hit Khartoum’s infrastructure, leaving education, healthcare and even clean water inaccessible to civilians. Meanwhile, fighting spread to the Darfur and Kordofan regions, increasing violence and unrest. Civilians continue to be threatened by physical and sexual violence as well as looting, destroying and people taking over their homes.

The atrocities in Sudan may seem far away to many, but Sudanese people in Arizona and at ASU are in a constant state of mourning. At the same time, they are still working tirelessly to advocate for their country. The war in Sudan is not “forgotten,” it is ignored. If you are advocating for Palestine, you should be advocating for Sudan. If you are a women’s rights and climate activist, you should be advocating for Sudan.

‘Advocate for humanity’

Heba Saad, a senior studying entrepreneurship and finance, noticed a need for an organization in the Valley primarily dedicated to Sudanese advocacy. In March 2024, she founded Sudanese Youth For Change Arizona to create a unified platform for fundraising, planning action items and providing information about what’s going on in Sudan for people interested in advocating.

Within the first few days, Hazaar Sharif, a sophomore studying neuroscience, and I joined Saad and became the first members of SDYFC. Sharif felt discouraged by the lack of support for Sudanese people in activism spaces, especially in the Muslim community.

“I felt like the activism around [Sudan] was performative — people would put flags in their bio and not really know what they’re talking about,” Sharif said. “When Heba asked me to join, I thought this was a great opportunity to show people how to help Sudan.”

SDYFC, which initially started as an Instagram account, received many contacts from community members for collaborations on their fundraisers, protests and events for Sudan.

However, Saad came across challenges when it came to working with other groups, saying that organizations looking to collaborate were trying to center their own political agenda and using Sudan and Sudanese people as a platform.

“[They’re like], ‘I advocate for Sudan because I am an abolitionist, not because I care about Sudanese people,’” she said.

“They hear about [the war], they see the surface information and think ‘this fits into what I believe’ but not take the time to actually learn about Sudan is what I realize is a problem,” she added.

Not only that, but Saad has come across people at events about Sudan who don’t even know where or what the country is.

“I feel like people need to give more at- tention to Sudan on an individual level,” Saad said. 

“What is the culture like? What are their beliefs? What are some of the smaller things that led up to this war? You need to understand those perspectives to understand what’s going on in Sudan and to fully center Sudanese voices.”

Saad, Sharif and I also experienced challenges within our own communities.

“It’s this endless excuse and shift of responsibility when it comes to advocating for Sudan,” Saad said.

SDYFC wanted to focus on the Muslim community by having events at the mosque but haven’t had much luck with participation. Saad said that many people are making excuses for not wanting to talk about Sudan, often blaming the Sudanese community for not being involved.

“If you feel a responsibility for something, you wouldn’t need [a person involved] to go and tell you [to have one],” Saad said. “Why should I have to go and beg you to advocate for humanity?”

Sharif also noticed that people have become “desensitized to the idea of African suffering when advocating for African countries.” Sudan has seen many wars throughout history, often causing people to believe that war is normal for the country; however, no matter how many problems a country has, a war is not something anyone should be used to.

“It’s still war, and people are still reaching out and asking for help,” Sharif said.

Sudanese people who have been displaced, like my family, lost their money from bank or house robberies and from leaving everything in Sudan behind. My family in America continues to send money because many members of my family are out of work. Those still in Sudan are also reaching out for help to flee and to support their families.

In Islam, we have a Hadith from the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) about the Ummah being one body. This essentially means that when one Muslim hurts, so does every Muslim. But for Sudan, “you never see [Muslims] feel that suffering,” Sharif said. 

“We need to be able to lean on one another and care for each other as Muslims,” she said. “You can’t just abandon one person while helping others and call that unity.”

One of the best ways to help Sudan locally is to talk to local government officials on the United Nations Humanitarian Aid Committee or those who vote on public international affairs. In Arizona, it’s representative Greg Stanton. By reaching out, people can push him to support bills for humanitarian aid.

“You need to have [government officials] know that Sudan is a red line and a big political issue,” Saad said. “Especially during election season, if they see that constituents care about a certain issue, what are they going to do to get their votes? They’re going to try and fix the issue.”

Faithful

Tabark Abdelhabib spent the summer abroad in Cairo, where most of her family was displaced. The visit was an opportunity to check on her family and understand what they went through.

“A lot of them are depressed, probably a little bit in shock, but faithful — faithful their situation will change and things will get better,” she said. “Their faith, Deen and Iman, are pushing them through this moment.” 

Abdelhabib graduated from ASU in 2020 and is a member of the Sudanese Diaspora Network, a global initiative that “[unifies, mobilizes, and empowers] the youth towards a better, more sustainable Sudan,” according to its website. 

Abdelhabib and other members bring action items and events from the network to Arizona, like the annual Layali Ramadan Iftar dinner. At this dinner, the community comes together to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan and initiate fundraising campaigns and charities for Sudan. Abdelhabib was one of the leading organizers for this year’s Iftar, which was held in the Memorial Union on March 30 and partnered with the Sudanese American Association at ASU and SDYFC. 

“What made it unique [this year] is that we brought more attention to Sudan from the non-Sudanese community,” she said. “I would say there were maybe 70% non-Sudanese and 30% Sudanese folks.” 

Saad also discussed the success of the Iftar. The event had a large volunteer team and support from the community. According to Saad, the event raised over $7,000 for Sudan.

SDN and other Sudanese organizations, such as Nas Al Sudan and SDYFC, participated in the Sudanese Action Campaign to raise awareness for Sudan. While everyday people are interested in learning more and finding ways to help Sudan, Abdelhabib said it is difficult to get responses from bigger institutions like the media.

“The response is none,” she said. “Big media outlets are the ones that don’t invest in Sudan. We have a lot of Sudanese-based journalists who emphasize the importance of interacting, sharing and boosting these posts. I’ve been getting many more responses from everyday people than from institutions.”

This is not the first time the media has been criticized for the lack of coverage of Sudan. Last year, The Nation released an article saying that the lack of media coverage of the war may promote the perception that the conflict is improving.

Due to little media coverage on the war, Sudanese people in the diaspora have taken education and advocacy into their own hands even amid dealing with survivors’ guilt.

“One of the only ways we can support and engage in advocacy work is to care for ourselves so we don’t burn out,” Abdelhabib said. “I think the exhaustion comes from family members, loved ones, experiencing displacement and not knowing how much you can help.”