Sudanese Canadian community calls on Ottawa to 'do more' to help civilians trapped in Sudan
Fighting erupted in Sudan on April 15 as powerful rival military factions battle for control
Members of the Sudanese Canadian community called on the federal government on Sunday to do more to help civilians trapped in Sudan by the ongoing fight between the Sudanese armed forces and the powerful Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group (RSF).
Ashraf Ahmed, president of the Sudanese Canadian Community Association, said community members are "worried sick" about the situation in Sudan.
"Unfortunately for Sudanese Canadians currently trapped over there, they are hopeless, they are not able to evacuate … they are running out of food supplies and no one knows what's going to happen given the desperateness," Ahmed told CBC News.
"Tell you the truth, all of us, including them over there, we start to feel abandoned by the international community and we hope that our government will do something to help."
Fighting erupted in Sudan's capital Khartoum and at other sites across the country on April 15 as the powerful rival military factions battled for control. More than 420 people, including 264 civilians, have been killed and more than 3,700 have been wounded in the fighting.
Scores of Sudanese Canadians gathered Sunday at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto to call for an end to the fighting.
They also used their peaceful demonstration to call on the Canadian government to help them sponsor relatives who are stuck in Sudan or having to flee to bordering countries to escape the fighting.
Ottawa announced Sunday that Canada is temporarily suspending operations in Sudan, and that Canadian diplomats will work "from a safe location outside the country … to support Canadians still in the country."
'Not doing enough right now,' Ahmed says
Ahmed said his association has sent a "couple of letters and emails" to Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly but has not had a response.
"We have heard the announcement and the statements from Minister Joly stating that the government currently has no means to evacuate Sudanese Canadians over there," he said.
"This is something we just cannot understand given that all other countries were able to [remove] their nationals and I don't know, just wondering why it doesn't work for Sudanese Canadians trapped over there.
"We believe that the government should do more, is not doing enough right now, and we believe that there is a way."
Maghoub Khair, a Sudanese Canadian, says he has family members in Sudan and the situation is "devastating."
"I have my sisters, I have my brothers and my roots are there definitely," Khair said. "I'm in Canada for the last 15 years. I'm a Canadian citizen and so we are asking the Canadian government to support Sudan in this situation."
For Yasir Mahagoub, it's a similar situation. He says he's been living in Toronto for 16 years and he's extremely worried about his family members back in Sudan.
"I have my parents, I have my sisters, I have my brothers and they're telling me the situation is really extremely bad," Mahagoub said.
"People, they don't have food, they're running out of food, they're running out of medicine, they're running out of electricity [and] water."
Mahagoub said "it is heartbreaking" to see what is happening in Sudan.
When fighting broke out on April 15, each side blamed the other for provoking the violence. The army accused the RSF of illegal mobilization in preceding days and the RSF, as it moved on key strategic sites in Khartoum, said the army had tried to seize full power in a plot with Bashir loyalists.
Canada's latest statement did not give any details on evacuation efforts. On Saturday, the federal government said removing people by air was not possible, and that officials were "coordinating with other countries to respond to the crisis."
Nearly 1,600 Canadians are registered as being in Sudan as of Saturday, according to Global Affairs Canada.
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With files from Jamie Strashin, Thompson Reuters and The Associated Press