Life after Omar al-Bashir: Sudan Now?
2019 August - 11 member Sovereign Council set to rule over Sudan for a little over 3 years until elections can take place. The council includes 6 civilians and 5 soldiers.
2019 September - A new government takes office under Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok as part of a three-year power-sharing agreement between the military, civilian representatives and protest groups.
2019 December - Sudan’s government restarts peace talks with rebel groups.
Even though a revolution has occurred in Sudan, and their totalitarian leader Omar al-Bahsir has been overthrown, there is still civil unrest and the displacement of people going on throughout the country. This is especially evident when looking at the region of Darfur in western Sudan. The people responsible for the civil unrest and displacement of Sudanese people is the military group known as the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF. The RSF was used by Bashir to battle protesters and protect his interests. When al-Bashir was overthrown and arrested, the RSF was absorbed into Sudan’s military allowing them to continue to commit terrible acts against the people of Darfur without consequence. The current leader of the RSF claims that they are not responsible for the attacks, and he even proclaimed the RSF as being “Guardians of Darfur.” According to the local Sudanese people in Darfur, the RSF is still attacking villages and causing the displacement of many people. The situation in Sudan has not changed much even after Bashir was overthrown. Several people in a displacement camp in Darfur didn’t even know that a revolution had taken place because “nothing has changed.”
People displaced by the conflicts throughout Sudan are facing threats of famine due to lack of resources, as well as lack of access to job opportunities. People must leave the camps in search of work so that they can feed themselves and their families. The EU stated that last month over 8.3 million Sudanese people were going hungry. Political instability and the current economic crisis in the country have caused organizations to decrease the amount of aid being sent to Sudan. The region of Darfur has been hit the hardest by this potential famine, as over 90% of the displaced people in Darfur can’t afford one meal a day.
Want to learn more about Sudan and the last 30 years of history? Check out our last blog post on Sudan.
Even better: want to help battle diseases in refugee camps? Help illuminAid save children in Sudan by donating today.
Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-48511226
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/darfur-sudan-war-death-toll-abdalla-hamdok-hemedti-omar-bashir-a9238991.html
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/sudan-forms-11-member-sovereign-council-headed-al-burhan-190820204821614.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14095300
https://apnews.com/707d9d69e4a2c090a879f95cdb43dcc6