Four years ago, at the start of the Sudanese revolution, British Vogue interviewed doctor and poet Marwa Babiker Elamin about the peaceful protests against the government. A few months later, they spoke again, when regime forces massacred protestors in a horrific and tragic surprise attack. In the years since successfully overthrowing ex-president Omar Al-Bashir, Sudan has struggled to find stability and remained under a violent military regime. Now, two factions of that regime, the Sudanese armed forces, loyal to Al-Bashir, and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), loyal to former warlord Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (or Hemedti), are caught in a power struggle that has triggered war in the capital Khartoum. Below, Elamin explains the reality of its impact.
On April 15, I woke up at 7 a.m. in Connecticut to hundreds of WhatsApp messages. It was the afternoon in Sudan, and all hell had broken loose. I saw videos of missiles being fired and buildings collapsing. My messages were full of pictures of dead bodies, people injured, a lot of blood. It was really traumatic. Khartoum was being destroyed. People were dying in the streets.
The day before, there were talks about the army and the RSF. Sudan was supposed to be in the process of transitioning from military government to civilian rule. That agreement would merge the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). I wasn’t happy with that agreement, as it would’ve kept the same military leaders around with no accountability for their previous crimes. Nevertheless, the RSF were happy, but the army was stalling signing. I was in a meeting with five Sudanese community leaders in the U.S., Dr. Al-Baqir Mukhtar, Dr. Bakry Eljack Elmedni, Dr. Nada Fadul, Areig Elhag and Dr. Suliman Baldo, discussing whether war was a real possibility. Although people saw it coming, we couldn’t believe it when it actually broke out. Overnight, Sudan changed. Now we are in a new reality.
It started just two weeks ago, but every single person I know already knows someone who has died in this war. The stories are horrifying. A one-year-old child got killed because a small missile fell on their home. A woman was about to give birth; she got an ambulance and her father accompanied her, but as they got to the hospital, the ambulance was showered with bullets. They were able to get her inside the hospital. The baby was okay but she and her father died.
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Although the death toll says 500, I think the reality is closer to the thousands, because it’s not just the people hit by bullets or missiles who are dying, but those that wanted healthcare but couldn’t get it. The majority of the hospitals in Khartoum have been shut down. Pharmacies are closed. People are dying for not being able to get their kidney dialysis. People who have small infections are getting septicemia because they can’t get regular antibiotics.
One of my best friends is a surgeon in El-Obeid. There are very few resources and he was overwhelmed last week with the amount of people injured. The doctors are suffering because they’re overworked. They’re being targeted and it’s not safe for them: We heard reports about some of the doctors being kidnapped by the militia to treat their own wounded soldiers. Dr. Bushra Ibnauf Sulieman was one of the most famous doctors in Sudan, who has done so much for medical education. He was just killed last week. It was a shock to the whole medical community.
I’m very proud to be part of the Sudanese American Physicians Association (SAPA) because they have taken care of operating a hospital in Omdurman, paying all the fees and salaries. Up until a few days ago, it was the only operational delivery hospital in the whole area. They have a network getting medical relief and help. Donations to them go directly to operating hospitals and helping the wounded.
There are people trying to flee the country and stuck in the exits. In Egypt and Ethiopia, the situation for those leaving is very bad. There’s not a lot of food or shelter, elderly people are dying because they’re sick or can’t find enough water. It pains me to say that there might be a lot of refugees fleeing this war.
All of this is overwhelming. I remember, in our conversation four years ago, I said that we want those who committed the war crimes and genocide in Sudan to go to trial to have accountability. Unfortunately, we learned that a few days ago, some have gotten out of prison. One that was wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes recorded a long speech about how they were supposedly put there unjustly and that they would be supporting the military. It was infuriating to me that such people could get out.
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This war is a step back for us. In the next few days, we might see other steps back in the human rights situation: the economy, health sector, education. All of this is very, very depressing. But I hope that this is us reaching the bottom, and that hitting it will give us an opportunity to start building something new.
The RSF and the army were able to have a ceasefire for three days to evacuate non-Sudanese people from embassies, but they have absolutely zero regard for Sudanese human life. They really just don’t care; they happily bomb buildings, kill people, raid homes. We need leaders in the future who actually value the life of the Sudanese people.
We need to get our voices heard. This is not just “another war in Africa.” This is a country that has been fighting for peaceful transition for four years now. The people of Sudan did not want this. We are not prone to violence. We were being shot in the streets and still did not pick up knives or guns. Instead, we confronted militias with bare hands and bare chests. We did not want any more armed conflicts in Sudan—we are a country [that already has] war in Darfur, the Blue Nile area, and the Nuba mountains. These military groups are tearing the country apart, we need the international community to hear us, protest, and stand with the civilian rule.
We want a civilian transition. We want peace. We want a country that will respect human rights. Hopefully, this conflict is not going to last years. I really hope once it ends, we’re going to learn from all the mistakes that got us here and start afresh.