About 600 people gathered at the State Library on November 9 to show solidarity with Sudan. Escalating conflict since April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.
The solidarity action was called by Sawt Al Sudan, a Sudanese diaspora group, after the city of El-Fasher, in the Darfur region, was completely seized by the paramilitary RSF in late October, after nearly two years of fighting.
Since the RSF takeover of El-Fasher, tens of thousands of people have been slaughtered, evidence of which has come from testimonies and satellite images that reveal mass graves and bloodstained earth.
Speakers at the rally included Farah Sawt, Mobeen Mougadam, Danya Daoud, Sara Sinada, Motega Ramnac and Basil El Ghattis.
They spoke about the Sudanese martyrs and expressed solidarity with the Palestinian and West Papuan struggles. They pointed to the global North and regional powers, including the United Arab Emirates, in helping create the conditions for the destruction, death, starvation and plunder of natural resources.
They said the democratic aspirations of the Sudanese people had been denied.
Mougadam, a student at the University of Melbourne and member of Sawt al Sudan, said: “This violence is being funded and backed by the United Arab Emirates, and enabled by governments around the world; every country, corporation or institution that continues to profit from Sudan’s bleeding and suffering has blood on its hands.”
He urged rallygoers to “challenge universities, unions and workplaces to stop doing business with those committing genocide, whether it’s in Sudan or Palestine”.
Sawt, also from Sawt Al Sudan, said: “Every one of the Sudanese people here today has been affected by this senseless war... and the brutal massacres across the country.”
Sawt said it is important to understand the conflict as an outcome of the counter-revolution against the 2018–19 Sudanese revolution.
“This is an attempt to prevent civilian government … power for the people by the people. The RSF and SAF are continuing this power grab, enabled by regional and global actors to prevent Sudanese land being run by the Sudanese people.”
Sawt tied the conflict between the RSF and SAF to the plunder of resources, including gold and Arabic gum, to benefit the Global North and the UAE.
Sinada said the UAE has given “weapons and money to the RSF and during this war and its gold supplies have surged by more than 70%”. She criticised Russia, Iran, Turkey and Egypt for supplying weapons and funds to armed factions, as well as the mainstream media for not covering the root causes of the genocide.
El Ghattis, an organiser of the Palestine campaign, said imperialism and capitalism are responsible for the genocides in Sudan and Gaza and called for greater unity between the movements opposing the genocides in both countries. “In the same way we act for Palestine, we must do no less for Sudan.”
Ramnac, from the African Solidarity Collective, said imperialism and the “scourge of colonialism never left the African countries; they never left the Asian countries”, only changing from direct colonialism to neocolonialism.
“Instead of sending foreign armies, they send their puppets and proxies, as we see with the RSF and UAE ... [the conflict] is a counter-revolution ... caused by outside interests seeking to benefit from exploiting the land and people.”
The crowd marched to Flinders St intersection, chanting: “Oil and gold; Blood and sand; We fight for a free Sudan” and “From Gaza to Darfur, Stop the killing, Stop the war”.
