Sudan's ambassador to Spain warns of the danger that instability in the Sahel poses for Europe
‘Sudan is far away from Spain, on the coast of the Red Sea, but the western edge of the Sahel is much closer than it seems. It is therefore in Spain's and Europe's interest to prevent the terrorism of the Rapid Reaction Forces from spreading in the region’. With this warning, the Sudanese ambassador to Spain, Maha Ayoub, closed her appearance before the media, stressing the need for the international community not to forget the situation in Sudan, which has been overshadowed by the war in Ukraine, first, and by the war in the Middle East, now.
- 12 million displaced people
- Videos of atrocities
- Appeal to the international community
- The United States
- Systematic destruction
12 million displaced people
The figures offered by the ambassador during her appearance are chilling: since the beginning of the attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (a militia created by the regime of Omar al-Bashir, president ousted in 2019), 12 million Sudanese, more than a third of the total population of the country, have been forced to leave their homes, to flee the rapes, looting and atrocities committed by this armed group.
‘There is a huge influx of people from all over Africa into Sudan, joining the militia and occupying our homes. Our culture and identity are being systematically erased. It is clear that this war in Sudan will have repercussions throughout the Sahel region of Africa, through the proliferation of armed criminal gangs, the flow of weapons and the spread of organised crime, including human and drug trafficking,’ warned Ambassador Ayoub.
Videos of atrocities
To back up their allegations, the Sudanese embassy officials showed a video compiling images recorded and posted on social media by militia members themselves, killing, torturing and raping defenceless civilians, as well as images of the exodus of refugees across desert roads.
‘Last week, horrific massacres took place in hundreds of villages in the eastern states of Gezira and Al-Butana in central Sudan, in an area that is considered the breadbasket of the country. The militia killed hundreds of unarmed civilians and forced several hundred thousand families to flee their homes on foot. They also carried out a systematic campaign of destruction of the area's infrastructure to prevent people from returning home, burning bridges and farms, destroying crops, cutting power lines and even poisoning wells,’ she said.
Appeal to the international community
According to Ayoub, these videos recorded by the militias ‘are evidence that compels countries and international organisations to label the rebel Rapid Support Forces as a terrorist group, treat them as such and criminalise any cooperation with them’.
The ambassador did not hesitate to point the finger at ‘regional sponsors, who are complicit in these crimes’, including ‘the United Arab Emirates, Chad and Ethiopia’.
Regarding the possibility of requesting military assistance from the international community, the ambassador was sceptical: ‘if it would be good for Sudan, we would certainly do it, but I don't know to what extent this type of international military intervention is effective, because it has already been done to combat Daesh and Boko Haram, and both groups are still active’.
The United States
Maha Ayoub also referred to the recent election of Donald Trump as president of the United States: ‘I honestly believe that with the Trump administration there will be a greater interest in what is happening in Sudan, because he has a very different approach to the Middle East and Africa; with Biden we did not see the United States acting to its full potential’.
It should be recalled that Sudan was one of the signatories of the Abraham Accords, promoted by Trump during his previous stint in the White House, which saw the re-establishment of diplomatic and commercial relations between various countries in the Arab world and Africa and Israel.
In fact, after the signing of the agreements, Sudan authorised Israeli airlines to fly over its territory. According to the ambassador: ‘Sudan wants to return to the international community and be part of the next peace process. When the war in Gaza and Lebanon is over, we can sit at the table and look for a two-state solution‘.
Systematic destruction
Finally, Maha Ayoub denounced the systematic destruction of infrastructure and historical heritage being perpetrated by the militias: ‘They have looted and destroyed the Bank of Sudan, the Presidential Palace, the Bank of Agriculture, the National Museum and 16 other museums. They have stolen priceless historical objects to sell them on ebay for a few hundred euros. These are objects more than 5,000 years old, from the Nubian civilisation‘.
Treasures that have been trucked across Sudan's borders with Chad and Ethiopia. ‘We are losing our present, because we are all refugees; our future, because our children cannot study; and our past, because they are destroying our historical heritage‘.