The Sudanese community in Auckland have gathered at Aotea Square today to raise awareness for the Sudan crisis.
Less than two weeks ago, violence erupted in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, as the two top generals of the country fight for power.
The violence in the city of Khartoum and beyond has left Sudanese civilians caught in the crossfire, evacuating by the masses.
Rahman Bashir, organiser of the protest, says Sudanese people are having to raise awareness themselves as the lack of global and local responses have been appalling.
“We feel very helpless being so far away. Our families back home are hiding from bullets and artillery. We’re trying to do what we can and bring light to the situation here in Aotearoa,” says Bashir.
“At the very least we deserve a statement that recognises our hurt and our trauma. There’s no one in the community who’s not been affected. People have lost family members. We never could have predicted this.”
Bashir says the government needs to bring in special refugee categorisation for the Sudanese people due to the tremendous scale of displacement.
“We want to be able to bring our families over here. The government rightly did this for the Syrian crisis, for the Afghani crisis and quite rapidly for the Ukrainian crisis. This is just as large of a humanitarian crisis.”
It is estimated that at least 70% of hospitals in Khartoum and neighbouring states have ceased operations; a huge concern for Sudanese GP Ala Farah.
“Food, water, electricity and medication are scarce. As a doctor I’ve been following the situation quite closely and I’m concerned. People with chronic illnesses have no access to the medication that they need. It’s a nightmare.”
Contacting families in Sudan has been a challenge due to major power outages across the city; making it increasingly difficult for Farah to get clarity.
“I don’t know how they are. Communication is quite hard and the network is really patchy. At times I do get through to them but most times I don’t. Last time I spoke to my uncle, he was refusing to leave his home. It’s terrifying to leave and not know what’s going to happen.”
The Sudanese community is feeling isolated, dealing with a crisis from afar, but feeling the pain overwhelmingly.
“We need support. We need reassurance that our whānau here in New Zealand are going to stand up and help us get the support that Sudanese people need,” says Farah.
“I want people to pay attention to the situation in Sudan. This is war. It’s a crisis.”
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