Christians in Sudan say they feel abandoned more than a year into the country’s brutal civil war. The comments were made to Illia Djadi from the charity Open Doors, who was visiting Sub-Saharan Africa last month. He found church leaders saying they feel forgotten by the outside world.
“The situation is deteriorating every day and there is no response from the world. There is a strong feeling of abandonment.
“Sudan is home to the world’s largest mass displacement with nearly nine million people on the run, and is facing the world’s largest hunger crisis, but it is not getting the attention and the response it should compared to other crises.”
Sudan descended into a civil war between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in April 2023 and the situation is said to be desperate for the two million Christians who live there. The majority-Muslim country is ranked number eight on the Open Doors World Watch List, which ranks the nations where Christians face the worst persecution and discrimination. Life for many Christians was already tough, but the violence has added extra pressure.
“There is no security, no protection,” said Djadi. “Not from the warring parties or from opportunists who will use this situation to further their own agendas. Christians and their churches have been attacked with impunity”.
So far more than 150 churches have been damaged or destroyed, either deliberately targeted or as a general result of the ongoing violence. Christians, forced from their homes, often flee multiple times, losing contact with other members of the small Christian community.
Open Doors says that for Christians, their faith is an added vulnerability. Where they find shelter, they might face discrimination from those around them, as well as in aid distribution. As a result, a large part of the Church is on the run and unable to provide for its people.
Mr Djadi is urging the international community to take action as he fears there is a danger of Sudan becoming another Libya where the fall of Colonel Gadaffi in 2011 left a power vacuum and fuelled further conflicts in the region.
His words echo those of Bishop Anthony Poggo, the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion last month. In a statement Bishop Anthony called on “the international community not to abandon the people of Sudan, despite the focus on conflicts elsewhere.
"While there are many positive grassroots efforts to support, including peacebuilding initiatives by religious and traditional leaders and financial provision flowing from the Sudanese diaspora, we appeal urgently for much greater international humanitarian support to mitigate the enormity of the suffering of the people.”