The world that we, as college-aged students in the 2020s, have been brought up in is defined by deadly apathy. Almost out of necessity, we have learned from an early age how to tune out the horrors unfolding around the world that don’t directly affect us.
We have seen this play out since the escalation of the genocide in Gaza, in ICE raids across the country and in the wake of recent attacks on Venezuela. Each of these events is utterly inhumane and unacceptable. Although many of us certainly have strong opinions, we push these tragedies out of our minds just to function, if we are privileged enough not to be affected, that is.
However, there is another tragedy just as horrific as the ones mentioned above, yet far less discussed. This tragedy is the civil war currently taking place in Sudan, carried out by the Sudanese Armed Forces fighting on the side of the sitting government, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with ties to the United Arab Emirates. The war stems from a series of disagreements between the two men behind a 2021 coup, largely revolving around the role and influence of the RSF in the larger Sudanese army.
If this reasoning for the civil war seems rather minor to you, congratulations! You have uncovered yet another example of elites drawing imaginary lines and fighting over power, regardless of the human cost.
I am rarely inclined to argue the “both sides are equally bad” position. But, in this case, both sides of this civil war have shown an equal disregard for the lives of the civilians and working people of Sudan. As reported by the International Coordination of Organized Anarchism, which communicates with antiwar anarchists inside Sudan, the Sudanese Armed Forces have behaved as a textbook of oppressive state military. They have violently suppressed dissent, disappeared antiwar activists and clung to a brittle claim of legitimacy at any cost.
This is worth emphasizing because public discourse often focuses almost exclusively on the crimes of the RSF, allowing the government’s abuses to go unnoticed. I did not want to allow that to happen in my writing.
AP Photo Sam Mednick
The actions of the RSF, however, are still truly deplorable. The RSF has carried out genocidal acts throughout its controlled regions, particularly targeting Black, non-Arab people in Sudan. The RSF also heavily targets healthcare workers and women, with large-scale sexual violence following in the RSF’s wake.
Unsurprisingly, countries that had previously called for a ceasefire, such as the United States, have proven useless in stopping the bloodshed. President Donald Trump is far more preoccupied with proving that white South Africans are facing a genocide, which should clue you in on what lives he deems worthy of prioritizing.
The war in Sudan follows a familiar and tragic pattern. Time and time again, when war mongers and political elites fight for control of imaginary lines and power, the true victims are the working and oppressed people caught in the middle.
There is no side in this conflict that has the interest of the people of Sudan at heart. Instead, there’s two sides of a civil war that would both gladly burn Sudan to the ground just to be able to rule over the ashes. Regardless of whatever theory of international politics you subscribe to, the only side that deserves support in this conflict is the millions displaced or dead due to the territorial ambitions of genocidal warlords.