We Talk Ukraine and Gaza, but Not This 'Living Hell'

International community's silence on civil war in Sudan speaks volumes, some note
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 21, 2024 10:55 AM CDT
'Do Innocent Black Lives in Sudan Not Matter as Much?'
People board a truck as they leave Khartoum, Sudan, amid violence on June 19.   (AP Photo, File)

There's been understandable outrage from all corners over the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, with media covering frantic aid negotiations and threats of famine. But when it comes to the nearly year-old civil war in Sudan, a continent away, there's been relative silence—silence now becoming deafening, according to US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield and former US Rep. Steve Israel, recapped below:

  • Thomas-Greenfield at the New York Times: Turned into a "living hell," Sudan counts 18 million people who face acute hunger. The response? Crickets, writes Thomas-Greenfield, urging the international community to rally together and lend a hand. Both the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces are impeding the delivery of humanitarian aid, one of many alleged crimes against humanity taking place, she writes. And "just a tiny fraction of the United Nations' humanitarian appeal for Sudan has been met." In fact, "the World Food Program warned that, unless new funds come in, it will be forced to cut off food assistance to hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees in Chad as early as next month."

  • Steve Israel at the Hill: Last month's UN report on the situation tells of "a chilling, barbaric litany of indiscriminate attacks on densely populated areas; the firing of missiles on public markets; the use of residential areas for military purposes; the attacks on hospitals and mosques; the displacement of 6.7 million people (half of whom are children); the killing of civilians; sexual and gender-based violence; abductions, kidnappings, and arbitrary detentions; the recruitment of children to take up arms to 'win the honor of defending the homeland'; and on and on," Israel writes. Yet there are "no massive protests over Sudan tying up streets and bridges in Western cities." He notes: "Do innocent Black lives in Sudan not matter as much?"
(More Sudan stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X