Sudan’s war, which began in April 2023, is closing in on its second year. No one expects or becomes accustomed to war, but it is striking that the most common sentiment I hear among Sudanese people – and even some outside observers – is that they still can’t believe this is happening.
Since the calamitous falling out between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a militia that was previously the army’s partner in power, the speed at which the country has unravelled, and the overlapping crises that the war has caused, have been hard to fathom. Millions are displaced, both within and outside the country. Famine is blighting hundreds of thousands. Sexual violence is taking place on a “staggering” scale, according to the United Nations. In areas where RSF soldiers are reportedly raping women and girls, some victims have taken their own lives and potential victims contemplate taking them pre-emptively. In a part of Gezira state, a young woman told me that when they heard that the RSF was approaching, she and her female relatives forged a suicide pact.
