Do we hear those cries? The cries of mothers, terrified, as their children cling to them, faces streaked with dust and tears, trembling with hunger. Do we hear those cries as the children starve, as hospitals burn, as streets once full of laughter are now rivers of smoke and rubble? Do we hear them as fathers drag their families through chaos, and as neighbors vanish behind the echo of gunfire? Do we hear those cries?

Smoke rises like a dark cloud over what used to be a neighborhood. Windows are shattered. Streets are empty, except for the echo of cries no one answers. The world watches, but does it see? Does it see the mothers running, clutching their children, faces streaked with dust and tears? Does it see the fathers dragging families through rubble, hearts pounding, steps faltering? Does it see the children starving, trembling, their eyes wide with fear? Does it see?

No. It does not.

Our complacency is a weight we carry, a shadow that grows longer with every scroll, every glance away.

Sudan. Land of pyramids taller than memory, home to over 500 tribes, nourished by the nile for thousands of years. A place where deserts blaze and the river winds like silver through its beautiful valleys. Sudan. Land that now burns, that now bleeds, that now cries unheard.

But what is truly going on in Sudan? To understand, we must look back decades, to the colonial divisions that split the north from the south, to the civil wars and foreign entanglement that tore the nation apart, to Darfur, to the fall of a Dictator in 2019. The roots of today's conflicts lie in a long history of ethnic tension, political corruption, and power struggles that have repeatedly left ordinary people to pay the price. Regardless of your political views and personal opinions, to stay silent on todays horrors, is to stay silent on genocide.

To dive deeper into today's conflict we must understand more about the History of Sudan in the modern context of Africa as a whole, not in isolation, but in the broader context of present day Africa. Only by tracing these roots can we understand what is truly going on there.

At the dawn of the new year 1956, Sudan gained independence from Anglo-Egyptian rule in 1956. Its first government was led by Ismail al-Azhari, a self proclaimed nationalist. However, at the dawn of this new year, Sudan's divisions began to grow. Rich in oil and gold, Sudan’s territories were politically and economically contested, and the split between a Arab Muslim North and African Christian and animist south widened with each passing decade, fueling conflict after conflict

Until the dawn of the 21st century Sudan has continued to have many internal conflicts and civil wars, each longer and more devastating than the last. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial it is estimated that 2 to 2.5 Million people were killed, and approximately 5 million displaced all before 2000. In an effort to end the second civil war, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed in 2005, ending the second civil war and establishing a framework for peace. But the tensions that had shaped Sudan for decades would not be easily resolved. In January 2011, the South held a referendum to decide its future, and 98.83% of voters chose independence.  South Sudan officially became a new nation. But independence did not erase decades of tension, disputes over oil, borders, and political power remained, leaving Sudan fragile and divided, and setting the stage for the conflicts that continue today.

To understand more about the tension in Sudan today we must understand a very Key Figure, Omar Al Bashir. Bashir, once a brigadier general in the Sudanese Army, led a coup that overthrew the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq Al-Mahdi. Promising stability, he instead built a regime rooted in repression, extremism, and dangerous militarization. 

Over 3 decades, Bashir rules through corruption, war crimes, and brutal crackdowns, eventually igniting a nationwide protest. His authoritarian rule led to the ICC issuing multiple arrest warrants for him in 2009 and 20010 for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Through patterns of mass killings, targeted attacks on ethnic groups, coordinated killing campaigns his 3 decade rule led to him being charged with multiple counts of crimes against humanity.

But where are we today? After Bashir was overthrown in 2019, hope flickered across Sudan. Civilian protests had succeeded in toppling a dictator, but the military that replaced him could not unite. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) both sought power, yet neither was willing to give it up.  Rivalries, decades of militarization, and entrenched paramilitaries made compromise impossible. On 15 April 2023, this tension erupted into full-scale conflict.

Now, more than 30 million people — over two-thirds of Sudan — need humanitarian aid. Over 11 million have been displaced internally, with 3 million refugees fleeing abroad. Famine grips regions like North Darfur and the Nuba Mountains, while hospitals burn and aid convoys are attacked. Yet, despite the scale of this suffering, the world barely notices. Aid is underfunded; only a third of planned relief reaches those in need. Media coverage is sparse. Powerful nations like the UAE and United States exploit the chaos, importing Sudanese gold and supporting economic systems that finance the very conflict that displaces millions.

This is a war fueled by resources, ambition, and silence. Gold doesn’t just sit in a mine — it finances bullets, militias, and the complacency of the international community. And yet, Sudan continues to bleed, its cries unheard, its people trapped in the same cycle of violence and exploitation that has haunted them for decades.

However, why does the modern Media still reject covering this crisis? We see satellite images of entire countries bombed, streets filled with blood. Yet, we choose to look away. Not because the suffering isn’t real, not because the cries aren’t loud enough — but because it doesn’t make us money. Because acknowledging Sudan’s bleeding, the famine, the displacement, the genocide, doesn’t fill our pockets, doesn’t strengthen our stock markets, doesn’t fit the narrative that interest groups that that control our nation want us to see.

To stay silent on the horrors of our world is not just ignorant, it is inhumane. Spreading awareness, raising money, and sharing the stories are not just acts of kindness, they are acts of justice. Every post, every conversation, every donation makes a difference. If we call ourselves human, we must choose.

https://donate.unhcr.org/int/en/sudan-emergency