Sudan’s two million Christians fear for the future of their country, according to a spokesperson for the charity Open Doors.
‘Church leaders I am speaking to are urging everyone to pray,’ says Fikiru Mehari, an Open Doors researcher for the East Africa region. ‘Many fear Sudan is vulnerable to collapse. From this chaos, Islamist extremists could rise and impose harsh Sharia law. This would prove deadly for Christians.’
The warning comes as the nation has been plunged into days of violent conflict, claiming the lives of hundreds and injuring thousands more. ‘This is a very difficult time,’ says Fikiru. ‘Our church leaders can’t visit their members, because everyone is minded to stay home. Those that have ventured outside have risked losing their lives. For anyone injured there is no medical support.
‘If I had to use one word to sum up how people are feeling, it is “confusion”; everybody is confused about where the country is heading.’
The escalating conflict
The conflict is centred around two conflicting military groups fighting for dominance, following a military coup in 2021. Fikuru says that Christians have little faith in either of the two factions.
‘When the dictator Omar al-Bashir was ousted, we were promised an interim government followed by elections. It gave us hope, as persecution of Christians began to drop. That did not last long though, and I don’t see either leader offering the country the freedoms that we were promised.
‘Our biggest concern is that it will give the Islamist extremists the chance to exploit the chaos to return Sudan to strict Islamic Sharia laws – promising people that this can bring peace and stability. For Christians and many others beside, it will bring untold suffering.
‘Sudan’s church leaders are urging us to pray that this will not happen, that Islamists will not exploit this uncertainty and instability.’
The latest conflict is between General Abdel Fattah Burhan and his former deputy, General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.
