“Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable”

This post was written to members of the Sudanese community across the world.

I live in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

You may have heard that in the past few days a Sudanese man stabbed an Irish man, and the video went viral online. The far-right took exploited the incident and began to incite hatred against people from minority ethnic communities.

The situation has become frightening very quickly, especially since there are still paramilitary-style groups here from the years of the conflict. These groups organised themselves very quickly and started attacking and burning the homes of minority families. They have been roaming the streets, stopping cars and intimidating people.

It reminded me of the scenes we witness in the days after the assassination of John Garang and during Khalil Ibrahim’s entry into Khartoum. The same hostility that was directed at Southerners and the people of Darfur in Khartoum is now being directed here at Africans, Arabs, Muslims and Asians; in short, anyone who is not white. It has been genuinely terrifying. Many of us stayed inside our homes, and we kept our children way from school for safety.

I work for a human rights organisation and we quickly established an emergency response group to deal with the situation. Within a few hours we created a WhatsApp group that attracted hundreds of people who rejected racism and violence and wanted to help. The group has now grown to 400 members and people are asking to join faster than we can process them because we need to verify backgrounds before adding anyone.

Since Tuesday, the volunteers in this group have helped relocate around 200 families to safe accommodation. They provide food and daily necessities, delivering everything directly to those affected. Irish volunteers have also organised patrols in areas with large migrant communities. Whenever they encounter groups attempting to intimidate residents, they intervene and move them away.

The centre we are operating from has been overwhelmed with donations. Food keeps arriving from everywhere. At this point, I often have no idea where it all comes from - organisations, individuals, women’s groups and local communities. While we work, people bring us meals, tea and coffee throughout the day (and, believe me, the tea never stops!).

I spend my days moving around the centre, answering phones, coordinating tasks, and supporting families. Sometimes, in the middle of the chaos. someone will stop me and simply say: “I don’t need anything - I just want to give you a big hug.”

I never had the chance to participate in the Sudan sit-in and I was always saddened that I missed that brief moment of hope before our country returned to destruction and loss. But these days have somehow compensated for that. It feels as through this is my own sit-in; a moment when ordinary people come together to protect one another and stand against injustice.

We Sudanese often say, “If you did not come from people like these, then what a tragedy and what a shame.” I truly feel that I have gone from one set of such people to another. Honestly, I think Irish people must be Sudanese who emigrated here a long time ago!