Wednesday, 24 May 2023

The stories we hear, and those we don't

Several weeks ago, from an already uneasy peace, violence erupted in Sudan's capital Khartoum. Against a backdrop of negotiations and supposed ceasefires, violence has continued and spread to other parts of the country. And while military leaders vie for supremacy, the innocent population suffers.

All of this made a brief appearance on the front page of the BBC news website and in various media headlines.

For a little longer, you could consistently find it if you made the effort to go to the world news pages. Now, even there, it is mostly hidden away.

While my Sudanese friends scour the internet for news of the conflict, while they try to maintain contact with loved ones, while they wait anxiously to know if those they care about are ok, while, in some cases, they hear the news they dread... the conflict has all but disappeared from our news, and probably for many people, from our consciousness. 

One of the things somebody said to me when they witnessed the outpouring of compassion in response to the Ukraine crisis last year was words to the effect of "of course people here don't care as much about us, they don't even know about the war in my country" I had little to offer by way of comfort. I knew it to be true.

And here we are again.

There has been no extended family reunion offer, no homes for Sudan scheme, no fast-track way to refugee status for the Sudanese people languishing in the asylum system. No airlines or Eurostar offering free travel tickets and safe passage, no collection boxes in every corner, no flags flying, no social media awash with the colours of Sudan. 

And yes, there have been, there are, people calling for at least some semblance of equality between those fleeing this conflict as those fleeing another, but without the same mass outpouring from all corners of society that couldn't be ignored it seems little will happen. 

I am obviously not criticising that all those things happened when Russia invaded Ukraine: it was a beautiful show of solidarity and compassion. But maybe I am questioning why they aren't happening again now. 

Do we care less? Possibly. Do we know less? certainly. Is their conflict, their suffering less? Probably not. Are their lives somehow worth less? Absolutely not.

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Two of my friends have told me about family members who have been killed. 

Another was telling me about his family moving away from Khartoum and while he is happy they are hopefully in a safer place, there is no internet or phone coverage where they have fled to, so he has lost contact and doesn't know when he will next have news of them. 

I have watched people struggle, trying not to be overwhelmed with fear and sadness, and the guilt of being safe and powerless to help.

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Someone I used to teach contacted me recently. Her sister, trapped in Khartoum, has an ill child who, due to the hospitals being either closed, or overrun or not having supplies or all of the above can't get the medical care they need.

She wanted to know what form she should fill in to bring them over here so the child could continue their treatment. If she was Ukrainian it would be that simple. And rightly so. 

Because she is Sudanese, the reality is there is nothing she or I can do. She wants, even expects me to have an answer, to have something to suggest, some grain of hope. I have forwarded her a petition,  helped her write a letter to her MP: I suspect it won't help but I guess partly I don't want to be the person to take away the little hope that something might be done, to say that my country doesn't want to help.

If that child dies for want of the medication to keep them well, they will not officially be a victim of the war. They will not officially be a victim of fortress Europe and Britain's hostile environment. In reality they will be both. 

Hers is one untold story. There will be thousands more. 

What should I say to her the next time she calls?

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