The overlooked refugees

World Refugee Day, observed annually on June 20, is dedicated to raising awareness about the plight of refugees and displaced persons around the globe. This year, marking it is especially relevant given the escalating crisis in Sudan.

Of course, the media focus on conflicts causing refugee crises in Ukraine and Gaza. So, you might have no clue about the crisis in Sudan. But the conflict causing a refugee crisis in this African country has been raging for over a year and is far more tragic.

Sure enough, Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are marking this day in the most ominous way. They seized the capital of a major state, forcing more civilians to flee their homes.

Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warns that the humanitarian response remains “deeply inadequate.”

Real displacement crisis

The UNHCR estimates there are 117 million forcibly displaced people worldwide. But it has declared the 10 million in Sudan the world’s worst internal displacement crisis.

The UN has accused both sides in Sudan’s conflict of war crimes, most notably for blocking humanitarian aid. But using food as a weapon of war is nothing new.

Indeed, South Africa has filed a case at the ICC against Israel for war crimes, including blockading humanitarian aid in Gaza. But Israelis could decry this as a case of antisemitic persecution. After all, South Africa willfully ignored the equally egregious war crimes Russia is committing in Ukraine, as well as those both combatants are committing in Sudan.

Cry for attention and help

The bottom line is that the conflicts in Sudan and Myanmar deserve far more media attention. Notably, concerning the latter, the forced displacement of the Rohingya people in Myanmar led the UN to declare them the most persecuted people in the world.

Yet their plight is rarely front-page news. Instead, the media focus on more ‘newsworthy’ crises in Gaza and Ukraine, leaving tens of millions to suffer in silence elsewhere. But, to paraphrase MLK Jr,  displaced people anywhere is a stain on humanity everywhere.

Yet, on this World Refugee Day, too many displaced people are suffering in silence and in the shadows. But spare them your sympathy; they need your attention and sustained support.