Nisrin Elamin says she is still processing her recent trip to Sudan, where she witnessed violence as a result of the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Elamin, who is a U.S. citizen, said she arrived in Sudan on April 9 with her three-year-old daughter. Originally from Sudan, the mother said she wanted to introduce her daughter to family members still living in Sudan and celebrate Eid, however, about a week into her trip, conflict erupted.
“On the morning of April 15, we basically woke up to gunfire,” she said.
“At first it was surreal. I had never experienced something like this before. We were getting messages from friends and family saying stay away from the windows — fight has just broken out — and over the course of the day, it just got much more intense. It wasn’t just bullets, it was also missiles, explosions all around us.”
Hundreds have been killed and tens of thousands have fled for their lives in a power struggle between the army and the RSF that erupted on April 15 and disabled an internationally backed transition to democracy.
Elamin said within days of the fighting, she learned that a family member had been killed and heard of civilians being injured by stray bullets while praying at a mosque.
She said food and water were also running in short supply.
“It was getting to be too unsafe and unsustainable where we were but the journey out was going to be dangerous,” she said.
Mid-April, the army said it agreed to a three-day truce to enable people to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. The paramilitary RSF said earlier in the day it had agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire, also to mark Eid.
Elamin said with the ceasefire announced, she decided it was the best time to get her family out.
“That’s really when we saw the destruction in the city. Burnt-out markets and carcasses of military cars and missiles,” she said.
Elamin travelled to a small village south of Khartoum and stayed there for several days.
“It was relatively quiet, but we were starting to hear of fighting in neighbouring villages across the river and a market had been burnt,” she said.
“We were starting to feel that things could get closer to us and that’s when I made the decision … we need to leave.”
Elamin said she took several public buses over several days and arrived in Port Sudan. She arrived in Washington, D.C., on April 29 and travelled back to Toronto a day later.
“I feel like I got back and forth between deep sadness for what’s happening to our people and our country and also some anger around how the international community has reacted to this,” she said.
It’s a sentiment echoed by members of Canada’s Sudanese community.
“We are a country that prides itself on being a protector of human rights worldwide,” said Toronto lawyer Samah Nimir.
“I think as part of the mission that includes providing safe ways for evacuation and taking away strict eligibility criteria for people who may not be Canadian nationals but who are seeking refuge.”
Over the weekend, Defence Minister Anita Anand said there are no further air evacuations planned for Canadians in the conflict-ridden African nation.
She did not say whether flights could resume in the future if conditions improve.
This comes after a senior military leader warned late last week that the window for air evacuations was rapidly closing as the situation on the ground continued to deteriorate.
Global News reached out to Global Affairs for comment.
The federal government said on its website it is working with the international community and regional partners to support a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Canada calls for the resumption of dialogue toward the formation of a civilian-led transitional government.
The government said it is also providing “humanitarian assistance to meet the lifesaving needs of crisis-affected populations. This includes funding for emergency food and nutrition assistance, clean water, hygiene, sanitation, health and protection services.”
Elamin said the international community needs to use its power to help create safe routes for humanitarian aid.
“We are not asking for the international community to save us here. We are asking for them to leverage their power to create ceasefires and safe routes for humanitarian assistance, for people who are stuck in their homes who don’t have electricity or water and need emergency medical support,” she said.
“There are so many people … who have not been given visas and have not been allowed out. The borders are essentially closed to them…. Part of what people are asking is where is the international community in providing humanitarian assistance, even just at the borders that are relatively safe? Why can’t Sudanese claim asylum at these borders?”
Elamin is back in Toronto and still processing what she and her three-year-old daughter witnessed in her home country.
“It’s hard for me to actually talk about.… I don’t think I’ve allowed myself to go there yet. It was intense,” she said, adding she hopes more is done to help support people on the ground in Sudan.
— with files from Saba Aziz and Reuters.
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