In the face of war, solidarity is being organized in Sudan

For almost a year now, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by Al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Hemedti, have been waging war against each other, dragging Sudan into the abyss, after fomenting a coup d’état together.

Humanitarian crisis

The victims are still the civilian population. Many have fled the combat zones, as in the two towns next to the capital Khartoum, where the Sudanese Armed Forces have managed to recapture Omdurman and are trying to reach the RSF-occupied Bahri.

Those who have been unable to escape are being bombed and beaten by soldiers from both sides. The United Nations estimates that more than eight million people are displaced and 20 million lack food, a situation that could rapidly lead to "the worst food crisis in the world". All the more so as the belligerents are rejecting any idea of a truce or the setting up of a humanitarian corridor to allow the delivery of food and medicines. Al-Burhan stubbornly refuses to allow aid to enter via Chad for the people of Darfur.

Emergency rooms

As the linchpins of the Sudanese revolution, the activists on the resistance committees are continuing their work through solidarity actions. As a result, emergency rooms have been set up across the country, acting as temporary accommodation, a treatment room and a canteen. Funding for these facilities is provided by donors within the country and by the diaspora via mobile banking applications such as Bankak. The internet outage has had serious consequences, preventing supplies from being delivered. The RSFs in Khartoum cut the network to force technicians to restore it in Darfur, one of their strongholds. Volunteers from these grassroots groups, often young people, are targeted by both the army and the RSFs. They are accused of helping the opposing camp and, above all, are known for having been activists against the dictatorship.

The persistence of the revolution

Through their networks, these grassroots groups are able to respond to the needs of the population, such as organising the exfiltration of families in areas where fighting is raging, finding an electrician for a faulty installation, fuel for ambulances or generators to supply health centres. They are only just beginning to receive funding from the major humanitarian organisations. These structures are a response to the failure of the state. This was already true of the resistance committees when Burhan and Hemedti were running the country, and it is even more true today. These self-managed structures symbolise the permanence of the Sudanese revolution and appear to be a credible alternative to the violent and corrupt Sudanese elite.

Translated by International Viewpoint from l’Anticapitaliste.