CPTnet
May 21 2004
AMMAN REFLECTION: Conversation with a Sudanese exile
by Le Anne Clausen
While the Iraq team was in Amman, I spoke with a Sudanese man who was
staying in the same hotel as our team and trying to find work in
Jordan. He told me, "In every Arab country, you will find Sudanese people,
because there is no work for us."
He had been in the Sudanese military but deserted because he didn't like
what they were doing. "The government sends you from problem to problem,
and you are killing the people. It's not good." He added that military
salaries, at fifty dollars per month, were not enough to live on. "If you
have a family, the money is gone after ten days." He said that military
service is mandatory for both men and women, before they can go to
university. "Even small children are fighting in the military now."
He also spoke of women's conditions in Sudan, saying "Women have no freedom
now. They can't do anything or go anywhere. Many women beg others to marry
them long enough to get out of the country so they can find work and have a
life." He also spoke of many women being raped and impregnated, especially
women who are taken to the south of the country where the conflict is worst.
He explained how a prominent political leader in his country encouraged the
people into repression of women several years ago, and filled the government
with his followers. However, the leader decided that he had been wrong and
tried to change the government back to what it once was. His followers
became angry and would not let him.
Several larger human rights groups and UN officials have recently named
Arab militias backed by the Sudanese government as responsible for
intentionally starving Sudanese of African-descent, thus causing a massive
refugee crisis.
I would not have known about this crisis had I not by chance tuned in to
a documentary about Sudan on the radio one afternoon. Sudan is not far from
Palestine or Iraq, where I have lived these past four years. However, only
recently have I become aware of the ethnic cleansing in the southern
provinces of the country. I confess to having 'tunnel vision' as a field
worker, focused on the locations where CPT works. Although I know CPT is
too small to be everywhere just yet, Sudan has been on conscience ever
since I spoke to the Sudanese man in Amman. Let us not forget Sudan, for
the Sudanese are our neighbors also.
_______________
To stop receiving messages from CPTNET on MennoLink, send a message with
only the word, "suspend," in the body to server@MennoLink.org.
Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative of the historic peace churches
(Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, and Quakers) with support and
membership from a range of Catholic and Protestant denominations.
Supporting violence-reduction efforts around the world is its mandate.
Contact CPT, POB 6508 Chicago, IL 60680; Telephone: 773-277-0253 Fax:
773-277-0291; e-mail: guest.903627@MennoLink.org
To receive news or discussion of CPT issues by e-mail, fill out the form
found on our WEB page at http://www.cpt.org/subscribe.php
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jun 01 2004 - 09:29:09 EDT