Port Sudan Authority launches security campaign against relief activists

Security Forces affiliated with the Port Sudan Authority carried out a large-scale arrest campaign against activists and volunteers at “Takayas” (charitable public kitchens) that provide free food services in Khartoum.

According to local media, (13) activists were arrested in just two days in various neighborhoods of the capital, in a blatant act of targeting relief activities. These (Takayas) collect donations in order to provide food supplies, fuel, and free meals to residents and displaced persons.

The security campaign sparked public discontent with the security crackdown on relief activities, especially since the activists are performing a role that the Port Sudan government is supposed to be fulfilling.

Residents of the targeted neighborhoods, in media statements, demanded the immediate release of the activists and an end to the ongoing security campaign against relief activities.

Volunteer and humanitarian activist, Suhaib Al-Rumi wrote on his Facebook page, “The volunteers represent the free Sudanese people who feel real, not artificial pain. They seek to help children in need, not fame and the spotlight.”

The security campaign comes amidst a persistent refusal to acknowledge the existence of famine and an ongoing food crisis in the country. Officials from the Global Hunger-Monitoring System, which includes more than (19) international organizations, confirmed this information in a report on the spread of famine throughout Sudan.

International figures warn that the famine in Sudan has expanded to five regions and is likely to extend to five more by next May.

The Sudanese population constitute approximately (40%) of the (63 million) people suffering from food insecurity in East Africa, according to data reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The government of Port Sudan had previously suspended its participation in the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system, a decision deemed to be “undermining efforts to address one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises,” according to an official with the Global Hunger-Monitoring System.

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and its allied Muslim Brotherhood militias face consistent accusations from UN officials and activists that they are the primary cause of the Sudanese people’s suffering from a hunger crisis, with food insecurity rates reaching unprecedented levels. As both -the Sudanese Army and allied Muslim Brotherhood militias- use starvation as a weapon of war to achieve military gains by weakening civilians and exacerbating their suffering.