Stop Kidnapping Refugees In Khartoum!
The Issue
Right now, refugees are being kidnapped for ransom in Khartoum.
Security officials are kidnapping vulnerable refugees off the streets of Sudan’s capital Khartoum – sometimes even from their homes or workplaces. As a refugee, you face a choice of paying cash or being detained.
The prisons are crowded, you don’t get enough to eat, there is no clean water and physical abuse and sexual violence are common. At first, in December 2021, kidnappings took place a few days a week – but since last July, they’re happening nearly every day.
Most refugees find themselves confined to their homes in hiding – fearful of going out to work or doing simple errands. Many are also going to Libya in an attempt to reach Europe, despite knowing how dangerous the situation is there, because life has become unbearable in Sudan.
At the start, the authorities demanded $200 for the release of a refugee, but that’s increased to $1,100. If you pay the ransom there’s no guarantee of not getting kidnapped again, and many end up behind bars several times. Most of the refugees being kidnapped are Eritreans, but many Ethiopians have also been affected.
Security officials claim they’re picking refugees up to check their documents. But this is being used as a cover to extort money from a vulnerable and unprotected population.
We believe that these kidnappings and the demands for cash are coming from poorly paid security officials breaking the rules, not from any official government policy or higher orders. We believe that exposing the problem and pressuring the Sudanese authorities could result in action to stop these officials from abusing their powers.
The big white vans used to abduct refugees have become a symbol of terror for Khartoum’s refugee community. No one deserves this kind of life.
We need to come together and pressure Sudanese authorities to stop the kidnappings now.
Join us by signing this petition today!
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What is the #StopKhartoumKidnappings campaign?
Activists outside Sudan are working with Eritrean refugees in Khartoum to raise awareness about the kidnappings, mobilise people to pressure the Sudanese government and lobby foreign states and institutions to get involved. Signing the petition is just the first step. Share the petition with others and then follow @onedayseyoum for more ways you can get involved with the campaign.
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Please note: The kidnappings of refugees in Khartoum is a separate issue to the long-standing problem of kidnappings at the country’s refugee camps and borders. The abductions at the camps and borders are committed by non-state actors and are a much more complex and deep-rooted problem. We are working on both issues in different ways and this public campaign is focusing on the kidnappings by state officials in Khartoum - since we believe public pressure on the responsible state authorities could be effective.
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The Issue
Right now, refugees are being kidnapped for ransom in Khartoum.
Security officials are kidnapping vulnerable refugees off the streets of Sudan’s capital Khartoum – sometimes even from their homes or workplaces. As a refugee, you face a choice of paying cash or being detained.
The prisons are crowded, you don’t get enough to eat, there is no clean water and physical abuse and sexual violence are common. At first, in December 2021, kidnappings took place a few days a week – but since last July, they’re happening nearly every day.
Most refugees find themselves confined to their homes in hiding – fearful of going out to work or doing simple errands. Many are also going to Libya in an attempt to reach Europe, despite knowing how dangerous the situation is there, because life has become unbearable in Sudan.
At the start, the authorities demanded $200 for the release of a refugee, but that’s increased to $1,100. If you pay the ransom there’s no guarantee of not getting kidnapped again, and many end up behind bars several times. Most of the refugees being kidnapped are Eritreans, but many Ethiopians have also been affected.
Security officials claim they’re picking refugees up to check their documents. But this is being used as a cover to extort money from a vulnerable and unprotected population.
We believe that these kidnappings and the demands for cash are coming from poorly paid security officials breaking the rules, not from any official government policy or higher orders. We believe that exposing the problem and pressuring the Sudanese authorities could result in action to stop these officials from abusing their powers.
The big white vans used to abduct refugees have become a symbol of terror for Khartoum’s refugee community. No one deserves this kind of life.
We need to come together and pressure Sudanese authorities to stop the kidnappings now.
Join us by signing this petition today!
─
What is the #StopKhartoumKidnappings campaign?
Activists outside Sudan are working with Eritrean refugees in Khartoum to raise awareness about the kidnappings, mobilise people to pressure the Sudanese government and lobby foreign states and institutions to get involved. Signing the petition is just the first step. Share the petition with others and then follow @onedayseyoum for more ways you can get involved with the campaign.
─
Please note: The kidnappings of refugees in Khartoum is a separate issue to the long-standing problem of kidnappings at the country’s refugee camps and borders. The abductions at the camps and borders are committed by non-state actors and are a much more complex and deep-rooted problem. We are working on both issues in different ways and this public campaign is focusing on the kidnappings by state officials in Khartoum - since we believe public pressure on the responsible state authorities could be effective.
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Petition created on 27 March 2023