The Situation in Sudan

"[Sudan is in the grips of a] catastrophic situation, [on the brink of a man-made famine.]"

"There are reports of mass graves, gang rapes, attacks in densely populated areas and many more horrors."

"We are failing the people of Sudan."

Edem Wosornu, UN relief advocate

"We haven't done anything -- just expressing concern, which doesn't solve any problems."

"There's not enough pushing from the international community, including Canada, to stop this war."

Imad Satti, director, Sudanese Canadian Communities Association

 

"We are looking to welcome Sudanese people fleeing war at the end of this year or the beginning of next year."

"It's very important to talk about what has become a forgotten war for a lot of us."

Canadian Immigration Minister Marc Miller

 

"Fighting broke out in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, on 15 April 2023 as an escalating power struggle between the two main factions of the military regime finally turned deadly."

"On one side are the Sudanese armed forces who remain broadly loyal to Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the country’s de facto ruler. Against him are the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF formerly known as Janjaweed), a collection of militia who follow the former warlord Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.'

"The RSF was founded by the former dictatorial ruler Omar al-Bashir as an Arab counterinsurgency militia. Bashir wanted to crush a rebellion in the region of Darfur that began more than 20 years ago due to the political and economic marginalization of the local population."

Background

Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, at a rally in Abraq village, outside of Khartoum, 22 June 2019. Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images

 

Desperate Sudanese trying to escape Sudan with its raging conflict re-ignited by a reconstituted Islamist group known for the horrors they inflicted on Black Darfurian farmers seek haven elsewhere than in a country that has distinguished itself for its lethal confrontation between traditional herders and pastoralists, forcing farmers off their land through uninhibited human rights violations of mass murder, rape, and situations where the then-government sent helicopter gunships to mow down people fleeing for their lives.

An estimated 8.5 million people have been forced out of their indigenous lands -- described by the United Nations as the largest internal displacement crisis in the world. Sudanese who had previously immigrated to, or been absorbed as refugees in Canada, escaping political and social oppression, call upon Canada to exert its immigration bureaucracy to enable threatened Sudanese to be reunited with their families in Canada.

The Liberal government of Justin Trudeau is skilled in expressing support for the war-torn unfortunates of the world by 'expressing concern' as it did last spring, in addressing the security situation in Sudan, airlifting its Canadian citizens to safety. However, the Canadian government has refrained from sanctioning the warlords, much less expressly naming and blaming countries that have been involved in fueling the war.

A family reunification program had been announced late in 2023, one designed to permit those fleeing Sudan to join their relatives in Canada with the proviso they have the means to provide financial support. According to the families involved, the program's demands for paperwork make the process impossible in an active war zone. Potential sponsors have been advised they must have $18,100 in cash, along with a minimum annual income of $51,128 to proceed with sponsorship of a family of four.

According to Mr. Satti, speaking through his organization as representing Sudanese groups across Canada, there are those with the required cash, set back by futile efforts aiding relatives in Sudan with the required paperwork, while others send money to help their relatives in a desperate situation, an effort that serves to deplete savings, while accomplishing little to actually enable their relatives to travel outside Sudan, much less look to the onerous requirements before immigration is countenanced.

Applications were being accepted from February 27, to the point where 680 applications had been received by a month later, representing the hopes of some 1,500 people who qualified for processing. To this point, however, no applications have yet been approved by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. The program was scheduled to accept as many as 3,250 applications, yet the minister of Immigration, Marc Miller has no expectation that anyone will arrive any time soon in Canada.

Former Ottawa ambassador to Sudan, Nicholas Coghlan, has spoken out for months urging Canada to follow the United States and Europe in sanctioning economic networks which warlords in Sudan are reliant upon. He also criticized Canada for lagging on appointing a senior diplomat for the region, to among other issues, gather intelligence to guide Ottawa on how best it could project humanitarian and diplomatic moves to aid the situation in Sudan. 

Sudanese refugees gather as Doctors Without Borders teams assist the war-wounded from West Darfur, Sudan, in Adre hospital. (Mohammad Ghannam/MSF/Handout via Reuters)

The Agony and Unknown Destiny of Baby Kfir Bibas's Family

Youngest Israeli hostage  1-yr-old Kfir Bibas

"It's my birthday and I am not with my family."

"It's my birthday and I don't get presents." 

"It's my birthday and I hope that you remember me."

"It's crazy to bake and bring a cake, put balloons and blessings on the wall for someone who's not even here."

"They were very modest and humble people who had come to Nir Oz to live their life quietly and peacefully."

"Shiri is an artist and a lovable kindergarten teacher with a great sense of humour."

"Kfir did not have a chance to live a normal life, he did not have enough time to experience things."

"Ariel [his brother], loved Batman. The family bought Batman pajamas for everybody."

Somehow I can feel them, I can feel that they are still alive. I cannot really explain it, because it's a feeling."

"There is no other option for me. I have to keep acting like they are alive and do everything to bring them back as soon as possible."

Yossi Schneider, Bibas family relative

When Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad stormed into southern Israel after breaching the separation barrier from Gaza, so they could begin a planned day of atrocities against Israelis living in small farming communities bordering Gaza on October 7, not only did they slaughter over 1,200 children, women, elderly and infirm, foreign farm workers and Israeli soldiers, while pillaging and mass-raping Israeli girls and women, mutilating and murdering them, they also abducted 240 people, from infants to the aged. 

 

Nine-month-old Kfir Bibas and his four-year-old brother Ariel, along with their mother Shiri Bibas and the children's father, Yarden Bibas were among those taken in captivity to Gaza, to be held both as human shields and as prospective 'trades' for Palestinians sentenced to prison in Israel for criminal activities. Yesterday, Israel acknowledged that the nine-month-old has been captive in Gaza for three months, and it's where he is now on his birthday. A year-old child. Not that his older brother, at four, would be any more adaptable to their current situation.

Those who gathered within the Kibbutz Nir Oz kindergarten have no idea whether the family has survived, and whether their ordeal is ongoing to the present. All told, 78 residents of the kibbutz were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7. Some likely also by the PLFP who were also present, as were ordinary Palestinian civilians and the PIJ terror group. The kindergarten teacher Maya Goren was among the 39 kibbutz members murdered that day. This tragedy will become part of Israel's sorrowful  history.

Kibbutz Nir Oz is a beautiful -- WAS a beautiful oasis in the desert. Within it is Israel's most beautiful of botanical gardens. Now the kibbutz bears little resemblance to what it once was; ruins of deserted homes, blood stains indelibly dried everywhere, testament to the orgy of killing the terrorists indulged themselves in. There was a October 7 video with Shirl holding Ariel and Kfir in her arms while being taken hostage, that aired on social media.

 

The Bibas family, father Yarden, mother Shiri, baby Kfir and four-year-old Ariel, were taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 from Kibbutz Nir Oz.

 

At a later time, there were pictures that showed a terrorist with a hammer in his hand, strangling Yarden Bibas, bleeding and surrounded by other terrorists. Most women and children hostages were released as part of a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas in late November. Absent from those being returned were Shiri, Ariel and Kfir. Soon afterward Hamas released a video with an emaciated Yarden begging the government of Israel to bargain for his family's release.

Hamas, at the same time, indicated the three had died in an Israeli airstrike. They also claimed that the three had been in others' hands, that they had lost track of where they were being held. When their captors informed Yarden Bibas that his wife and children were dead, another released hostage was with him and she described how Yarden in a weak psychological state had broken down entirely.

When the ceremony of remembrance and celebration of the baby's birthday ended at Kibbutz Nir Oz, guests  released balloons in a symbolic gesture of freedom. The balloons rose into the sky, wafting toward Gaza while the group wished Kfir a happy birthday.

Orange balloons fill the skies above Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square on Thursday as hundreds gathered to mark the grim milestone of the first birthday of Kfir Bibas, who is a hostage in Hamas captivity. Thursday, January 18, 2024. (Photo: Debbie Weis