Sudanese Manitobans worry about family facing civil war, famine as international aid dwindles

The war in Sudan has triggered the world’s largest hunger crisis ever, says the United Nations. Nearly 28 million people are facing acute food insecurity, 3.7 million children suffer from malnutrition and over 10 million people have been displaced. Ruben Garang, president of the Council of South Sudanese Community of Manitoba, says he’s constantly worried for family back home. People who are here, you know, shoulder a lot of the burden because you, you have to do what you can, you know, to take care of your relative. But also it take a toll on you emotionally because you’re dealing with the news constantly, you know, news of displacement, news of killing, news of death. So it’s not it’s not a good thing. It’s a very, you know, devastating news. Garang was displaced from South Sudan in 1987 by the civil war before coming to Canada in 2004. He says most of his relatives back home are displaced, living in camps. People are struggling and they have no way out. The economic crisis is already affecting people. The, you know, the dollar value is up in South Sudan, for example, again, is the local currency. It is a challenge. And this is on the top of, you know, the ongoing war conflict. Goods are not moving from region to region because of the conflict, Garang says. Sudan’s situation is ignored because the international community is giving more attention to Ukraine and Gaza. Well, we know where the world attention is now, you know, and we know like, you know, institutionally, you know, the world has not been paired. Mandela Quiet came to Winnipeg with his parents in 1998 at the age of 13. By now the situation is dire. For a lot of the people down there, security is a big issue. There’s a lot of challenges there. There’s a lot of people losing their lives, not just my family, but a lot of other people’s families. There’s no safety. There’s no constitution to protect the people. There is. No rules of law. Quiet remembers all the tensions when he was growing up in Sudan. There were moments of blockade where he had to present identification or present who you are. And you know, there were times where he had to stay home for safety reasons. And you know, there were obviously discrimination based on the ethnics background. There was always a sense of cautious and what you should be doing and who you should be engaging with. Even as a young child, you know, Quiet tries to help the community any way he can, but feels disheartened. He echoes Garang sentiments about Sudan needing adequate international attention. Zabeena Ahmed, CBC News, Winnipeg.