Concern that Christians becoming targets as civil conflict in Sudan escalates

Charity warns regugees from conflict could overwhelm South Sudan

Originally published in Worthy News

While it is not yet clear if Christians are being specifically targeted in the violent civil conflict in Sudan, four churches have been destroyed and Christians have reportedly been killed, wounded, turned away from state hospitals, and barred from receiving humanitarian aid being given to Muslims,

The violence broke out on April 15 as the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fought for control of the government.

In a statement about the crisis in Sudan, Todd Nettleton of Voice of the Martyrs (VOM), said that deadly chaos, which has so far killed hundreds of civilians, may provide a cover for specifically attacking Christians, Baptist Press reports.

“One of the dangers of the situation in Sudan is that persecution and targeting of churches and Christians can be ‘disguised’ in the midst of airstrikes, missiles, and gunfire,” Nettleton said.

“VOM contacts say an increasing number of Christians have been killed in the fighting,” Neddleton continued. “Sources also report injured Christians are being turned away at state hospitals, and that Christians are being denied food relief that is being provided to Muslim citizens,” he said. VOM has received reports of at least four churches being destroyed since the fighting broke out, Neddleton added.

Concerning attacks on churches amid the conflict, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) said in an April 27 press release: “CSW learned that on 17 April an Anglican church in central Khartoum was seized as a military base by suspected RSF fighters, who damaged six cars, and forced 42 people who were sheltering there, and who included the church leader and his family, to leave the building after physically assaulting several of them. The church is a five-minute drive from the army headquarters. In Bahri, Khartoum North, the Evangelical Church was bombed and partially burned.”

Meanwhile, Church Times reports that Christian Aid has warned that the crisis in Sudan could leave South Sudan overwhelmed by the needs of refugees.

The charity believes that up to 120,000 people, including South Sudanese “returnees”, could cross the border if the conflict continues. It is estimated that between 13 000 and 20 000 people have already entered South Sudan, which is “struggling to cope”, Christian Aid reports.

On Tuesday, the UN put the total number of people who have fled to other countries at 100 000 — a figure that, it says, could reach more than 800 000. This includes people who were already refugees in Sudan — one million — from countries including Ethiopia and Eritrea. A UNHCR spokesperson, Olga Sarrado, told journalists that many of the seven neighbouring countries were already hosting large refugee and internally displaced populations: “The majority remain severely underfunded. Asylum countries will need additional support to provide protection and assistance. Among the urgent needs are water, food, shelter, healthcare, relief items, gender-based violence response and prevention, and child-protection services.”

The International Organization for Migration estimates that more than 334 000 people have been displaced in Sudan, while the UN’s humanitarian-affairs office said that aid agencies and partners were facing a “huge funding gap” of $1.5 billion (R27,3 billion). It has reported “massive looting” of the offices and warehouses of humanitarian organisations.

“Without more solidarity, like the international community showed in Ukraine, we could be overwhelmed by the plight of all those needing the essentials of food, water and medical help,” the Christian Aid South Sudan country director, James Wani, said on Tuesday. “Many women and children are sleeping out in the open at risk from violent crime and snakebites.

“There are close to one million South Sudanese people in Sudan. The existing aid programme for South Sudan this year is only a quarter funded and that’s before this latest influx of desperate people.”

The UNHCR has reported concerns that the conflict between rival security forces in Sudan will exacerbate intercommunal violence in Darfur, where sites hosting internally displaced people have already been burned to the ground. Last Friday, the Sudanese Ministry of Health put the number of dead at 512, but this is believed to be a conservative estimate. Last week, UNICEF reported that nine children had been killed in the fighting.

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