Sudanese expatriate communities across the globe have been working tirelessly to fundraise and collect in-kind donations to help alleviate the severe food shortage in war-torn Sudan, provide safe shelters for the displaced as well as emergency treatment and medicines, and help with providing job opportunities from afar.
Sudan’s war, which began on 15 April 2023, has resulted in thousands of deaths and the displacement of over 11 million people. It has decimated infrastructure, left basic services in tatters, and brought the country to the brink of famine, with disease proliferating through the population as a result. It ranks among the gravest humanitarian disasters in the world today.
Meanwhile, relief operations face severe challenges due to limited funding, difficulties accessing those affected and security threats.
Sudan’s Saudi diaspora takes action
Saudi Arabia’s Sudanese community is one of the largest Sudanese expat communities, with a long history of funding community projects and basic service provision in their homeland; a role that’s expanded since the war erupted.
Since then, it has supported hundreds of families who lost their means of income, helped with evacuation operations, set up displacement shelters, and aided Sudanese families who have fled to other countries.
Hussein Hassan Hussein, a leading figure of Saudi Arabia’s Sudanese community, said to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, The New Arab’s Arabic-language sister edition, “Social solidarity is a defining characteristic of the Sudanese community, whether this takes the form of financial, material, or moral support. Solidarity increases during hardship, and Sudanese expats are always the first to offer support during crises.”
He adds that this war represents a new experience, because it erupted in the capital, before spreading to engulf practically every part of the country.
“People have been displaced, and women and children subjected to gross violations,” he said, as well as “normal life being completely disrupted.”
As a result of the war, unemployment rocketed and living conditions plummeted – the scarcity of basic goods also means prices have risen well out of reach for many.
“The Sudanese community in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere is trying to ease the damage and assist the affected. Regional and professional associations — and civil society institutions — have played significant roles in providing food, medicine and clothing. They have also used diverse ways to garner support, from making humanitarian appeals to utilising their networks in the diaspora.”
Many Sudanese families living in Saudi Arabia opened their homes and shared their food, clothes and incomes with those arriving from their war-torn homeland.
Likewise, many have committed their time to finding solutions for the education and medical-related issues of the displaced. As a result of the increased need, the role of these diasporic regional and professional associations has grown, as everyone looks for ways to give support.
Sudanese doctors in Qatar extend their expertise
In Qatar, the Sudanese community and its professional associations have worked in several ways to ease the suffering of their Sudanese compatriots.
The Sudanese Doctors Association in Qatar (SUDAQ) identified eight urgent areas for action — the most prominent being professional support; assisting health institutions, and training medical personnel.
“The association has offered over 1,200 online medical consultations, and 143 doctors from 35 specialisms have volunteered to work, among them paediatricians, geriatricians, psychiatrists and nephrologists,” explains SUDAQ’s Chair, Dr Osama Al-Nour.
“[SUDAQ] has also published a special pamphlet on care for children during war, and has participated in programmes to train healthcare staff in emergency care, sponsored by the Community Medical Response Team.”
Dr Nour says SUDAQ also signed a memorandum of understanding with South Darfur’s health ministry pledging to cover the operational costs of Nyala’s (South Darfur’s capital) kidney hospital. It did the same with the Gezira Hospital for Renal Diseases and Surgery – to meet the needs of over 900 kidney failure patients displaced from Khartoum due to the war.
SUDAQ also supported the ‘We Are With You’ initiative launched by the Gezira Centre for psychological treatment, which aims to treat children and families suffering mental health problems due to the war. The project intends to provide broad psycho-social support through a specialist clinic for developmental and growth disorders as well as holding training workshops and awareness seminars on mental health in displacement centres.
Besides this, SUDAQ supported a grassroots initiative (named ‘Salmeen’) to provide medical assistance at Sudan’s border crossings into Egypt.
“Regarding medication, the Association reviewed lists of medicines and medical supplies with the Pharmacists’ Association and the Laboratory Technicians’ Association in Qatar, as well as Sudan’s health authorities, and forwarded them to charitable organisations in Qatar to secure their provision,” continues Dr Nour.
Hala al-Shafie, the supervisor of another initiative, ‘Saqia and It’am,’Â explained that this project focuses on providing food and drinking water to the displaced, and runs on donations from Sudanese communities from various countries, primarily the Gulf states, the US and the UK.
“Ninety percent of the project’s costs are covered by expat donations, which have allowed us to distribute around 28,000 barrels of drinking water in different states, to dig three wells in Gedaref state, and set up 60 food distribution points for inhabitants and the displaced,” she says.
She adds that the initiative has also sourced medicines, tarpaulins, blankets, beds, clothes and heathers, and organised free vegetable markets.
She believes Sudanese expats have provided more support to those affected by the war than the Sudanese state or international organisations.
“If it weren’t for the support of the [Sudanese] expats, this catastrophe would have been worse. However, the community initiatives need more support, because the number of those impacted is growing, especially with the continuous waves of displacement, the last of which was from the east Gezira region, likewise the cost of food keeps rising.”
Another major recipient of aid from Sudanese communities living abroad has been charity kitchens – over 200 have been set up in Khartoum state alone, entirely funded by donations.
Kamal Mubarak, who runs one such kitchen in the Al-Hatana neighbourhood (Omdurman), says he has a network of Sudanese acquaintances in the US, Oman and Saudi Arabia, who send donations monthly which allow him to prepare daily meals for around 450 families.
“The money from the expats is enough for around 20 days, and I collect donations inside [Sudan] to complete meals for the month. Support from international organisations is scarce, and I believe the expats have plugged this gap, but we need more support to cover treatment and medicines.”
According to activist Ismail Nabri, Sudanese expats’ support hasn’t been limited to giving humanitarian aid – they also have managed to build community organisations capable of responding fast to emergency needs, for instance, the diaspora in Europe has set up funds to support education and healthcare, centres for training and capacity building, and organised health and social awareness campaigns.
“However, while they’ve worked to build networks with international and local organisations, enhancing their effectiveness, the Sudanese crisis requires comprehensive solutions and widescale international cooperation. Sudanese expatriates represent a driving force for change, and we hope their efforts will contribute to political solutions and achieving peace and stability,” he says.
This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition. To read the original article click here.
Translated by Rose Chacko
This article is taken from our Arabic sister publication, Al-Araby Al Jadeed and mirrors the source’s original editorial guidelines and reporting policies. Any requests for correction or comment will be forwarded to the original authors and editors
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