Open Letter to the International Community: Call for Solidarity and Action

Human Rights | Migration and Displacement | Peacebuilding

Since the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Speed Forces (RSF) erupted on April 15, we have seen graphic content of women, children, and men fleeing from death and destruction in search of safe haven. Until last September, it was the Sudanese people, more than five (5) million of us, seeking safe shelter from the conflict within our country, across the neighboring countries, and the world. Today, millions of people are forced to leave their lives, the most basic human right. We must not be blind, silent, and inactive.

In Ukraine, more than six (6) million people have been forced to leave their country, and these are only UNHCR-registered refugees. The difference between 2022 and today is that the refugees from Ukraine seeking shelter were not facing death and persecution once they managed to leave their war-shattered homeland. Sadly, that is not the case for Sudanese, especially non-Arab, African, and Arab minorities that keep dying even in countries as remote from Sudan as Morocco or the deadly Mediterranean Sea.

The death of women, children, and men seeking refuge is as devastating and meaningless as thousands of civilians in and around Sudan—in Geniena, Khartoum Bahri, Omdurman, and other areas. They are dying from air strikes and other war-related horrors in neighboring countries, from lack of solidarity and safe passages. Instead of empathy, food, shelter, and a promise of a better future, they are met by militaristic response, barbwire, tear gas, and police and military brutality.

The International Refugee Law protects refugees. Each country in the region and the countries of the African Union, as signatories to the Geneva Conventions, are obliged to provide protection and shelter to those in need. In an attempt to switch the discourse, the media and the International Community are talking about the ‘migrant crisis.’ Still, we know, from Ukraine’s experience, that this is not just a ‘crisis of migrants’ but rather a crisis of (in)humanity towards conflict and violence displaced individuals and families.

Instead of allowing the media and the governments to criminalize and problematize people in need, turning them into illegal migrants and calling them a security risk for the countries they reach, we need to remind ourselves what is the real issue here. The real issue is the ongoing conflict in Sudan—that is firmly turning into a civil war— and wars and violence in Africa and the Middle East, bringing endless suffering to the people and for which the International Community bears significant responsibility. The real issue is the inability (or unwillingness) to stop the conflict and violence. The problem is not the people seeking shelter, protection, and a better future!

As International Human Rights Defenders, we are deeply touched by the faith of the Sudanese, our people, and others fleeing to neighboring countries and Europe, risking their lives, and deeply ashamed of the actions taken by the regional governments and the AU EU. The international Community’s impotence angers us to respond to the outcries of the Sudanese people and others to stop the conflict, to stop air strikes, to stop the killings, and to mediate peace.

While the Western nations now have turned their focus to ‘resolving the migration crisis,’ we, the Human Rights Offices, call upon the neighboring governments to open their borders for the free movement of refugees and/or migrants and to grant asylum for those who chose to stay. We call upon our fellow HROs to show humanity, solidarity, and empathy with them while resident in their countries of mission.

We also call upon the international community to:

1. Stop the conflict in Sudan, as the top priority in resolving “the crisis,” stop the wars in each country, including countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Ukraine, and stop global militarization.

2. While mediating the peace, demand unconditional cease-fire and guarantee unconditional and complete access to humanitarian aid for our people in Sudan and other countries affected by violence;

3. Open the borders and live up to the international legal obligations to protect those seeking asylum worldwide; helping refugees cannot stop simply by providing a safe haven. We must also ensure that the refugees can travel and move freely and legally to safe territories in order to access the rights they are entitled to —international protection, asylum, and integration— wherever they can obtain it;

4. Ensure full and non-discriminatory access to justice for the civilian victims of conflict and war.

IN SOLIDARITY:

Sudan International Human Rights Organization