Montreal, Sunday, November 10. While massacres of civilians are tearing apart their country of origin, some 50 Montrealers of Sudanese origin gathered in the city centre. They are denouncing the complexity of federal policies for welcoming their families in the country and the lack of support from Quebec in these operations.
It's noon, Christmas lights are twinkling on Sainte-Catherine Street. Passers-by are doing their first Christmas shopping. At Phillips Square, a completely different atmosphere reigns. Behind the silence, outrage and fear are visible. Members of the Sudanese community raise their flags in the light rain, others hold signs to call out passers-by.
“Inside, I'm bleeding”
Zain Zarroug, in his sixties, was displaying a contagious smile under his hat. Member of the Sudanese-Canadian Community Association, he was targeting the crowd and offering almost a history lesson to passers-by. Some people know nothing about Sudan and confuse its flag with that of Palestine.
“Do you know where Sudan is? ” he told the crowd. “It's in Africa. And do you know how many countries there are in Africa?" Gradually, his speech turned into an informal quiz game. Once the geographical context is established, he continues: “We are organizing this demonstration for one reason only: every day that passes is a risk for us to lose our family”, he says, in a deep voice.
Zain shares the pain of losing his loved ones. Two members of his family died in one month: “On December 12, 2023, I lost my brother. On January 12, 2024, I lost my mother... I still have my father and my three sisters in Sudan. I'm smiling, because after all, what can I do? Inside," he says with his hand over his heart, "I am bleeding.”
After the fall of President Omar al-Bashir in 2019, Sudan's democratic transition was quickly interrupted in 2021 by a coup d'État led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sudanese Armed Forces, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemedti”, at the head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). What initially looked like an alliance between the two leaders quickly turned into a power war. In April 2023, tensions erupted and plunged the country into a bloody conflict, with particularly violent massacres in the Darfur region.
According to the UN, violence against civilians — rapes, the destruction of villages and brutal attacks — continues to increase. The organization describes the situation as one of the “worst humanitarian crises in the world.” Last month, several Sudanese women victims of sexual violence perpetrated by paramilitary groups allegedly committed suicide, and others are considering ending their lives to avoid a similar fate, reports the human rights group. SIHA, quoted by BBC Africa. Nizar Sayed Ahmed, a spokesperson for the Rapid Support Forces, rejected the accusations, calling them “false and without evidence.”
Overwhelming numbers since April 15, 2023
(sources: ONU And Humanitarian Actions)
- 18,000 people were killed.
- 3 million people have fled the country.
- 11.4 million people have been displaced within Sudan.
- Nearly 80% of hospitals are out of service.
- The UN has estimated humanitarian needs at $2.7 billion to help nearly 15 million people. To date, approximately 60% of this amount, or $1.62 billion, has been allocated. Aid priorities first include emergency funds to support people who have fled to neighbouring countries. This is followed by essential interventions in areas such as food security, nutrition as well as access to clean water and sanitation, rapid and targeted intervention for the most vulnerable people in crisis areas, and much more.
"The feeling of powerlessness is terrible"
Mayada Ageeba stood out among the crowd with her pink floral scarf. She is also a member of the Sudanese-Canadian Community Association. “I immigrated to Canada in 1997, when my father was hired as a professor at McGill University,” she explains. Despite the years that have passed, the 30-year-old maintains an unwavering link with Sudan, where most of her family still live. "Eighty per cent of my loved ones are still there. Some have fled to Egypt, Ethiopia, or even Kenya, but most have stayed because few can't afford to survive more than a year abroad.”
For these Sudanese expatriates who have mostly settled in Quebec for two decades, sending money has become the only way to support their loved ones back home. “We send what we can, but even that is not guaranteed. Sometimes part of it is confiscated or diverted," explains Mayada. "We're doing our best, trying to be inventive. But despite sending money, medication or food is often lacking. The feeling of powerlessness is terrible.”
This feeling of powerlessness is compounded when contacts with loved ones become irregular. “Sometimes they move to areas with no connection, and other times, there are network outages.” These blackout periods have become frequent in Sudan. According to Access Now*, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces have interrupted the Internet to block the flow of information in areas controlled by the opposing camp since the conflict broke out in April 2023.
“Sometimes there is no news for weeks,” says Mayada. "And every phone ring makes you fear the worst.”
Last week, she learned that her grandparents' house had been bombed. “It was where we all usually met... Fortunately, no one was there at the time of the attack,” she said, relieved. "But for us, the Sudanese, everything can change overnight. Today, you have your mother, and tomorrow, you no longer have her.”
Lots of patience and money to bring your family to Canada
Mr Zarroug finished his spedpeech and invited community members to take the microphone to express their fears and frustrations. Mayada step forward, determined. “We live in a country and a province that don't even consider us human. Bringing our families here is nearly impossible! ”
“Shame! ” exclaimed a protester in the crowd.
In a year and a half of conflict, 10,890 Sudanese were allowed to enter Canada. Among them, 7,320 people affected by this conflict were allowed to come as permanent residents, thanks to priority treatment. And another 3,570 were able to come as temporary residents.
Priority processing is a mechanism established to speed up the processing of immigration applications in the event of a humanitarian crisis or emergency situation. However, to benefit from this program, applicants must meet several specific criteria and submit supporting documents.
The Sudanese-Canadian Community Association collaborated with the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to implement a program to help Canadian citizens and residents bring their loved ones affected by the war in Sudan to Canada. This program, officially announced on December 28, 2023, and came into force on February 27, 2024, allows Canada to accept up to 3,250 applications for family reunification. Since June, applications have been completed and are currently being processed, according to information published on the IRCC website.
Despite the months that have passed, the wait persists. Thanks to an access to information request filed by La Converse, IRCC specified that as of October 28, 2024, 3,250 files concerning 7,330 people had passed the completeness check and had been processed. However, only 180 applications have been approved, and to date, five individuals have been admitted to Canada under this program.
For many families, the race against time continues, and all are clinging to the hope that their loved ones in Sudan will survive by then.
“Do all lives really matter?" said Mayada angrily again. "What does that mean for my family, for my people?” she insists. For her, processing times are endless, and financial conditions are out of reach. “$9,900 to sponsor a single person is unthinkable for most Sudanese families. You would have to choose: should I bring my grandmother, my brother, my nephew, an aunt? It's impossible,” she laments.
The family sponsorship process for people from Sudan is in fact linked to strict financial criteria which make it difficult for many people to access it.
To sponsor a family member, you must prove that you have sufficient income to support the sponsored person. A minimum income of over $27,000 is required for a single person, and nearly $58,000 for a family of five. If this threshold is not met, savings held in a Canadian bank account can be used to make up the difference.
In addition to this income requirement, Canadians and permanent residents who want to bring in a family member must have $9,900 to support the sponsored person, and over $20,000 for a family of five.
Mayada denounces this program: “The federal government is not saying no to the entry of Sudanese families, but it is not really saying yes either. In the meantime, people are dying.”
Members of the Sudanese diaspora cannot bring their families to Quebec
While the federal government is criticized for the slow pace of its family reunification program, the situation in Quebec is disastrous: no provincial measures allow someone to bring their loved ones from Sudan to the province.
“I grew up here. Quebec is the only province where I consider myself to be at home. But whether it's for financial reasons or [because of current policies], I can't bring my family here,” Mayada laments.
”Shame!” exclaim the demonstrators in chorus.
“Yes, there is a difference in the treatment with those from Ukraine,” continues Mayada, referring to the more flexible resettling policies implemented by Ottawa and Quebec during the invasion of Ukraine. A man in the crowd reacted: “Of course, they are white! ”
Mayada concludes with a serious tone: “There are policies that don't apply to us people of colour. The colour of our skin is what sets us apart in the eyes of politicians.”
Interviewed by La Converse on the difference in the treatment between Ukrainian and Sudanese refugees, the federal government replies that the contexts of the crises in Ukraine and Sudan are different. While the Canada-Ukraine Emergency Travel Authorization (AVUCU) allowed temporary residence to be obtained, the humanitarian route for Sudanese is a permanent residence program and therefore requires sponsorship.
The Quebec government replies that it “already participates a lot” in the humanitarian effort by welcoming a large number of asylum seekers arriving in Canada. “In order to ensure dignified care for people already there, [the provincial government] has therefore made the decision not to participate in this federal policy,” said a spokesperson.
“They tell me it's just a problem between us Black people”
Samia is 25 years old and is a Sudanese student at the University of Quebec in Montreal. She in turn advanced to the centre of the group: “In Quebec, there is no real help [for the Sudanese]. If you say that a Ukrainian is at risk of being killed, there are lawyers, procedures, solutions that are deployed to put him in safety. But if you are talking about the Sudanese, you are first asked to fill out the paperwork again and again.”
She adds with emotion: “As a Black person in this country, I have never been truly appreciated or even seen. I grew up in a house where there were 10 of us. Only three survived the bombings...” After a brief sigh, she said again: “[However], when I talk to comrades about people from Sudan, they ask me why they should get involved or even be interested. They tell me it's just a problem between us Black people.”
“Am I not human?" she yells in a desperate cry. "As a human, aren't you supposed to be worried about me? Forget what it means to be Black, Arab, Russian, or Ukrainian. Just look at me as a human being.”
Zain speaks again to contextualize the crisis in Sudan. “Yes, we are told that Sudan is going through an internal ethnic crisis, but the reality is much more complex,” he explains. "Militias supported by foreign powers are worsening the situation. I am not afraid to say it: the Emirates funds the Rapid Support Forces.”
“It's the same dynamic as that observed in the Congo. It's always the same struggles, the same oppressions, but we isolate these conflicts to avoid dealing with the root problem,” he says.
An appointment every two weeks
It's past 13:00 and Zain was smiling again as the demonstration comes to an end. “We'll meet here at the same time every two weeks,” he announced. The objective? “Put more pressure on Quebec to open its doors to Sudanese families. The more numerous we will be stronger to make a difference.”
To go further
*Access Now is an American NPO that focuses on digital civil rights.
N.B.: The words of Zain Zarroug, Mayada Ageeba and Samia have been translated from English.