In the granitic unbreakable silence of the international community, acts of unprecedented violence are occurring daily in Sudan, such as the recent attack on Omdurman market, twin city of the capital Khartoum. The cost of human losses and devastation of the bombing of Rapid support forces poured into the Al Nao hospital.
An atrocious toll, with 54 deaths and 158 injured. And the number is destined to rise. Victims are not simple numbers, but a warning alert for all of us. We are faced with carnage, to which the world continues to turn its back, focused on other conflicts and issues of their own interests. The doctors, who are working in the Al hospital Nao, surrounded by a sea of torn patients, offer us an insight of the reality of the conflict: men, women and children with devastating injuries liying in every corner of the emergency room. An image of impotence that, unfortunately, it’s risking to become the new normality.
It is unacceptable that the war in Sudan, which has now been going on for over eighteen years months, it’s relegated to oblivion, it’s considered an event far from priorities on international agendas. The Rapid Support Forces and the regular Army demonstrated, without any doubt, their will to come back to the table of peace negotiations. These indiscriminate attacks not only violate any principle of humanity, but also highlight a collective indifference to intervene and protect International institutions and national governments, even in the face of a conflict that it’s destroying lives and communities, and it seems to perceive all the other world crises more “fascinating” and “profitable” from the diplomatic and media perspective’s point of view.
These lack of interest in Sudan and his atrocities are an insult to human dignity and an arguable moral choice. It’s time to raise our voice, to awaken consciences and ask the international community for a concrete action. We can’t remain inert looking at a humanity down on its knee. It is our responsibility asking governments and international organizations to act, to make their voices heard and to apply pressure to stop the violence.
Hospitals like Al Nao, the only beacon of hope in a reality marked by war, tell a story of unspeakable suffering. Doctors Without Boarders Organization finds its field of action not only as a rescuer, but as a witness to a trampled humanity. As information operators, we not only have to give voice to those who act as a refuge for the wounded, but also give them support by relaunching the appeal to intervene decisively to stop this violence. We share the indignation of Christopher Lockyear, general secretary of MSF, who was at Al Nao hospital when patients started arriving after the last atrocious attack.
“I see the lives of men, women and children torn apart in every corner of the structure while the doctors were doing what they can. There are dozens and dozens of people with devastating injuries, the morgue is full of corpses. In front of me it’s a scene of absolute carnage, yet another tragic example of this relentless war against people.”
We all need to be aware that this crisis goes beyond the border of a single country; it’s a collective human responsibility. The cry for help from Sudan cannot be ignored. We are all responsible of lives that are consumed in silence and indifference . Now it’s time to be heard. The lives of millions people depend on our ability to mobilize and ask for justice. We can not and must not turn around our back.
Focus on Africa does its part, from the first moment, because the purpose of a faithful trustful journalism is not only concerned with how things are but even as they should be.
