Sudan is one of the devastatingly underprivileged nations in Africa with a population of roughly 40 million people. Right now, however, it is under a lot more heat than it normally has been. Protesters are getting attacked, raped, mutilated, and bodies are even being dragged from the Nile river. The real question is: why are there protests going on and how did all of this even start?
The Beginning of the End
The Sudanese crisis started because of civilians who are pro-democratic that are going against the military in the northeast African nation. After months of pro-democracy protests carried out by the Sudanese people, President Omar al-Bashir who was the president for nearly 30 years was arrested primarily because of leading a genocide in Darfur, Sudan. The year before that, Sudan was experiencing food shortages and inflation which made anti-government protests even worse. When al-Bashir was arrested, the new ordeal was who would take over for him? That is what lit the fire under the stove. The military started to act out and wounded a lot of protesters since al-Bashir was ousted. Doctors came to the conclusion that about 118 people were killed and about thousands more were either beaten or raped.
What About the People?
There have been talks about trying to encourage the military council in Sudan to give over power to the citizens of Sudan. They have been at a standstill and a representative from Ethiopia made an appearance to mediate both sides of the spectrum. There have been strikes and during them, civilians were encouraged to stay home. Every single place was shut down and the nation looked like a ghost-town. Along with all of this, there has been an internet blackout for over a week which seems to be due to efforts to supress the activists and protesters and keeping them from communicating with the rest of the world. However, you still might have seen #IAmTheSudanRevolution and #SudanUprising trending on your social medias.
The Sudan Crisis: What's really happening?www.youtube.com
Help? Anyone?
A lot of the western African nations have sided with the protesters of Sudan and the African Union even voted in favor of a civilian-controlled authority for the time being. The European Union has also been against the Sudanese military, but the United Nations has not been able to place sanctions within the nation to watch over the health and safety of the Sudanese civilians. Although this has been going on in the background- celebrities like Rihanna, George Clooney, have been trying to reach media platforms to speak publicly on the issue.
Even though there has been a lot of support and outcry for the civilians of Sudan, the international community has been silent for the most part.How You Can Help
SHARE this story, raise awareness, DONATE to Save the Children which has been dedicated to helping children all over Africa and other parts of the world since 1984, SIGN the Change.org petition that asks for the United Nations to investigate the June 3rd attack in Sudan, DONATE to UNICEF to help displaced children, and lastly, pray for Sudan.
Until next time,
Salsa.
