Sudanese in Bay Area hope U.S. remains involved in their war-torn land
MILPITAS -- With hundreds killed in the Sudan civil war and the United States evacuating its citizens, Sudanese Americans in the Bay Area hope this isn't the end of U.S. involvement in their homeland.
On April 15, life suddenly changed in Sudan. The capital city of Khartoum has become a battleground with seemingly random bombing as two army generals fight each other for control of the country. It is estimated that 100,000 people are desperately trying to flee the country.
"It's very tough, just a feeling of being helpless, you know?" said Harith Elrufaie, president of the Sudanese Association of Northern California. "You feel like you want to help but you don't know how. You want to see if you can send money but you don't know how."
Elrufaie said the people were proud after a popular uprising ousted longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019. He said they made a mistake trusting the military to assume control with promises of civilian rule. Now the two generals are staging a bloody battle to become the next dictator.
"It's extremely disappointing. I think, to all of us, we seriously thought of something so big and so beautiful," Elrufaie said. "I think it's a lost cause. I think there's no hope in both leaders. There's no hope that any of them will be serious to hand the government to the civilians. I think we can't let history repeat itself one more time."
"Who's worried?" asked Hana Baba of her Sunday school class in Milpitas. Every hand shot up. Baba teaches Sudanese culture, and she knows that the kids are well aware of what's happening to their cousins and grandparents in the homeland. She said, beside the loss of life, there is a fear that the nation's very identity could now be in danger.
"Somebody posted yesterday that the National Museum was looted and so too its heritage, its history, its artifacts," Baba said. "And the bombing is so indiscriminate that it feels like they're bombing the life out of Khartoum, the capital city."
Here in the Bay Area, Sudanese are trying to make people aware of the looming catastrophe. They know that America often casts a blind eye to violence in African nations but they want everyone to know that, as a people, they too stood up for the ideals of liberty. They're asking the world for help.
"I think they have to save the cause," Elrufaie said. "I think the Sudanese people, they paid their dues. We've done all we can do and we're looking for the global community to stand by us one more time."
It's estimated there were 20,000 Americans in Sudan when the fighting began. The battle is now in its third week and America is just beginning to move its people out. The Sudanese are questioning what will be left if they ever decide to return.
