Sudan: Internally Displaced Christians Forcibly Expelled From Place of Refuge
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – More than 30 Sudanese Christian refugees were last month forced out of their temporary homes in Sudan’s River Nile state by Islamic residents who said they did not want Christians or black people in their neighborhood, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
On October 19, local Muslims in El Matamah, Al-Makniy ordered 34 Christians who had fled the fighting and shelling between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to leave their area.
According to the Sudan’s People Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), the Christians were initially falsely accused of stealing livestock and violating Islamic codes, MSN reports. However, after police apprehended the true thieves, it emerged that the real reason for the persecution was the Christians’ faith.
“While we were waiting and following up on the legal procedures, the people of the neighborhood came to us on Saturday, October 19, 2024, and expelled and deported us from the Makniya area without protection from any official body in the locality, despite their knowledge of that,” one of the Christians, whose name is withheld for security reasons,told the SPLM-N. “We were forcibly displaced for the second time, as half of us went to Shendi [River Nile state], while the other half preferred to return to Omdurman to avoid repeating religious, ethnic and regional discrimination.”
The Christians asked the police to assist them but received no response, MSN reports.
“We are currently in a very bad humanitarian situation, as we have lost our shelter, and we have children, women and the elderly, and we have lost our livelihoods that help us provide for our basic daily needs,” the Christian told the SPLM-N.
Currently wracked by a new civil war, Muslim-majority Sudan ranks 8 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
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