Why Sudan is Dying

Select video clips courtesy of Getty Images

Select video clips courtesy of the AP Archive

Special thanks to MapTiler / OpenStreetMap Contributors and GEOlayers 3

[dr.woozie]

The Sudan crisis isn’t even listed on ongoing events on Wikipedia’s main page. It’s insane how overlooked it is.

[Almabruk_]

I'm from sudan and currently living Inside the catastrophe so I appreciate your efforts to get the the word out, we are going through unbearable living conditions, my family lost access to 70% of our assets and our house in Khartoum probably got lotted, other than financial lost our life is on puss for nearly a year academically and generally.

[dpginthehouse]

As a Sudanese who lost everything because of this war, thank you for this, this is the most accurate explanation to the war. Truly a forgotten conflict.

[DavidKutzler]

I met a man who was one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan" from the Second Sudanese War. He and his little brother managed to escape into the desert when his Christian village was slaughtered during a raid by one of the Islamic militant groups. His little brother died in the desert, but he managed to find his way to a refugee camp. He was eventually sponsored by a Christian church group to come to the United States. He lived with a sponsoring family, who helped him find a job and enroll in school. He became a medical lab technician. When I met him, he was the Director for Laboratory Quality Control for a large public hospital system in Houston, Texas.

[karthikeyan]

You know the situation is complicated when Iran and Saudi Arabia support the same faction against Russia and UAE.

[rabidpeanut]

So, let me get this straight.
Most African Conflicts:
Step 1. Dictator
Step 2. Uprising military coup against dictator.
Step 3. Military Promises Elections.
Step 4. Oops we forgot. Now we dictate.
Step 5. See step 1.

[sohaeb]

I am from Sudan and i had to leave my home and live in unbearable conditions in a far eastern state for 8 months, you don't know anything about war unless you experience it "and i hope none of you do" I've prospered in those conditions and learned a lot i am lucky to have family members abroad and i finally left last week and hoping to start a new. Much love for talking about this ❤

[KindredMixedBlade]

When I was in 8th grade, four young men from Sudan came to speak to us about their experience growing up in Darfur. I’m very saddened to hear that this nation is still suffering. Those men were very nice despite the very very awful things that they saw and had happened to them. It was one of the only times my rowdy class did not mess around or crack jokes.

Every one else I have met from Sudan has been so nice. I hope this nation eventually heals and the Sudanese and their various populations can live in peace.

[ahmedmuawia]

Here a Sudanese guy. Just some corrections and things to note:

1. Burhan was not the Commander in Chief of the armed forces, it was Omar-Al-Bashir until he was overthrown. The Army then gave the position to Ahmed Awad ibn Awf who was unpopular with people for being perceived as too much of an El-Bashir loyalist so he didn't last longer than 48 hours. Burhan who was chief of staff was the second pick.
2. SAF is the military which was once the Sudan Defense Force under British Egyptian rule... so the military is actually older than the country as an institution. Al-Bashir regime created many other militias that acted beside the armed forces (operating as part of the extensive Sudanese internal Security apparatus)
These militias include the Operations Authority (Islamist loyalists) who are currently fighting with the army, and the strengthened Central Reserve Police which got military level training. It must be noted that the Central Reserve Police was created by Jafaar Nimeri not Omar Al-Bashr, they were created to violently suppress tribal disputes.
3. Burhan is not Hemedti's rival (although both knew each other personally before the transitional period and there is a huge psychological-personal factor involved now as they take shots at each other occasionally.)
The Army Command is much of a junta, the Military is an institution that believes the country belongs to it and that it's the rightful Guardian of Sudan. Burhan is just a figure head and equal to his fellow senior generals. Hemedti meanwhile got an almost stalinist cult of personality going around him and his Militia belongs to the "Daglo" family. Although there are some tribal elements to the RSF, they operate more as a criminal Organisation, almost like ISIS but they lack ideological motivation. They are just mercenaries and quite good at it.
4. Most Sudanese people don't like the National Army because of its history and incompetent leadership but everyone hates RSF who they spitefully call "Janjaweed" and "militia". The only folks in Sudan who like the RSF are probably those with personal links to it whether tribal or familial. The Army and RSF are not equals at all in the eyes of most Sudanese, however political parties here had been seeking to muddy the water and try to portray the Army as an "Islamist Militia" which is simply not true. Armed, Secular Rebel groups, Revolutionary Resistance Committees, Islamist regime loyalists have all been fighting alongside the army while putting aside their diffrences for now. I believe there is a somewhat pragmatic level of agreement against and a real of the RSF which is motivating these groups to fight alongside the Army (Each of these elements is weary of the Armed Forces because of History)
5. RSF started committing war crimes against "African" trib3s in Darfur immediately. Mostly the militias they are allied with.
6. The Sudanese Army bombings are indiscriminate not because of an intentional hatred of civilians as much as an irresponsible apathy to said civilians. Faulty intel and the use of primitive antinovs and migs are the main culprits leading to great human causalities and often not much harm against the RSF. The Sudanese Army had recently been fixing this problem (at least in the capital) by using drones (mostly commerical ones) to do precision strikes which helped it achieve some strategic success for the first time since the war. Still this had been condemned many times by people living in Sudan in areas still Army control.

[KarolArambula]

I saw RSF rebels shooting from my window, even to already dead bodies. I will never forget those nearly 2 weeks trapped in Khartoum when the war basically broke out outside my building on that 15 April which changed everything. I was happy living in Khartoum. You’d be surprised of how kind, how nice, how brave the Sudanese people actually are. I was part of the UN’s transitional team who wanted the Revolution to really have an impact for Sudan’s future. A future that was promising when people took to the streets. It hurts to see that what I once called home is now considered “Africa’s Aleppo”. Nonetheless, what hurts the most is to see how the world doesn’t pay attention to Sudan’s bloodbath and humanitarian disaster. One of the world’s largest human catastrophes of our time.

There are a few things to revise in this video as per historical and political context. There are also images/videos placed wrongly while you were speaking, which can cause confusion (like when you were talking about Burhan and showcasing South Sudan’s President or showing videos from the revolution/protests while talking about the war). Overall however is very good video to showcase what’s been happening and most importantly, who’s responsible for the fueling of this war and related conflicts.

[hairblairbunch]

A dear friend of mine is stuck there. He gets in touch when he can. Sends me photographs. It's utterly heartbreaking.

[atilla]

Thank you for covering this story. I'm Sudanese and although I've never lived in Sudan, people in my personal life have been affected by what is currently going on. My uncle had his home looted, 40 years worth of tireless work gone, this is the reality of many non-arabs in khartoum but unfortunately it feels like we're shouting into a void trying to inform the masses.

[MustacheCashStash]

Sudanese people : You have freed us!
Al-Burhan and Hemeti : Oh I wouldn’t say freed, more like under new management

[pyiiucb]

My Sudanese friend who's 22 years old went to visit his fsmily in Sudan back in summer of 2021 or when ever it was last safe and he's berb stuck there ever since. Evey once in s while he gets online and uodates on his situation and he's told me he was coming home in fall of 2022 that didn't happen then again in summer of 2023 that also didn't happen. He says there's a bunch of non sundanese people also stuck with them including Americans, Australians, British, Canadians and more. They are trying to make it to South Sudan which isn't as bad and hopefully get on flight out of this hell hole country. He's a young man who's lived in the USA since he was 3 yesrs old. This is all he knows and he was never interested in going back to Sudan he just did this time for his mom. Im sure he's scared its dangerous to be A male. Hope to see you soon Ammar!

[cerambyx-]

Sudan has over 225 Nubian pyramids, more than any country in the world including Egypt which has 118 and only a handful are not in complete ruins and still standing (mainly at Giza). A further 80 of the Egyptian pyramids also ended up in Sudan after a historic border change. In war human life is obviously the priority but the protection of archeological/historical/art relics is also something but should also be considered, although it is nowhere near as important as preserving human life. Having seen the pyramids, they really are something special.

[aclevelandjr]

Thank you for your work to post this. I will have to watch this a few times to even begin to grasp the complexity of the country.

[hosamaldeentarig]

The blood bath in Sudan is severely overlooked to a point that it actually hurts, I fear everday for the lives of my family members and friends in Sudan, our house and car are gone alongside with most of our savings, horrifyngly unknow future, but yet am considered to be one of the few luckiest people because I made it out of the country alive with my family.
But I am certain that one day the Sudan that we dreamed and fought for in the revolution will actually rise, I just hope it'll be in my lifetime to witness it.

[caseypenk]

I have no idea how you produce this many lengthy, high-quality videos every month. I appreciate how much I’ve learned from your channel!

[goncalopcoutinho]

Great video as always! Could you please do one on the conflicts going on in Mozambique?

[Handyman]

@RealLifeLore: Another great one!
Much appreciated!!