Sudan has been in a state of crisis since April 2023, when conflict broke out between two factions of the ruling military junta: the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese ArmedForces (SAF). The violence began just days before they were due to merge as part of a planned transition to democracy.

In the time since then, it is Sudan’s civilians who have suffered most, bearing the brunt of air strikes and some of the gravest crimes under international law.

Keep up to date and find out more at  csw.org.uk/sudan

The crisis in context, a timeline:

13 December 2018

Protests begin in Blue Nile State and soon spread across Sudan.

22 February 2019

President Omar al-Bashir declares a one-year state of emergency in response to continuing protests.

11 April 2019

President Bashir is removed from power by the army, bringing an end to three decades of oppressive rule characterised by severe and widespread human rights violations.

3 June 2019

Rapid Support Forces (RSF) use heavy gunfire and tear gas to disperse a sit-in by protestors in Khartoum, killing over 100 people. Many female and several male protestors are raped.

August 2019

A transitional, civilian- led government is appointed and expected to run for 39 months to move Sudan towards democracy, marking a brief period of hope for change.

July 2020

The death penalty is abolished for apostasy (leaving one’s religion), and it is subsequently decriminalised. This is one of the few positive steps forward made during the transitional period.

25 October 2021

The Sudanese military seizes power in a coup, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. He declares a state of emergency and claims that the military intends to hold power until elections in July 2023.

July 2022

Four men are charged with apostasy, despite it being decriminalised in 2020, indicating a deterioration in the situation of human rights following the coup. 

15 April 2023 

Conflict breaks out between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces, which plunges the country into humanitarian crisis.

Churches under fire

Christians are particularly vulnerable, with reports of attacks on clergy, the bombing of churches by both warring parties, and the seizure of religious buildings for use as military bases.

For example, the SAF shelled and completely destroyed the largest church in Omdurman on 1 November.

On 12 January the Evangelical Church in Wad Madani was set on fire and partially destroyed by members of the RSF. 

The church is the biggest and one of the oldest in Gezira State, which has been controlled by the RSF since December 2023. It is considered a high value target and is next door to an Evangelical school that the previous regime attempted to seize.

Fortunately, the church was empty at the time of the attack. However, this means that the only way the culprits would have been able to break into the building and set it on fire would have been with the knowledge of the RSF.

After the attack, CSW spoke to Reverend Yahia Nalu, Chairman of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Synod, who told us: ‘All they did was destroy the building, not the church. The building is not the church because the church is in the souls of believers.’

Reverend Nalu’s words are inspiring, but he also believes that the situation is likely to get worse.

‘The situation is alarming, and we are apprehensive that these violations will continue and expand, not only to buildings but to target the servants of the Lord. We need everyone’s solidarity and prayers to the Lord for saving the Christians in Sudan and giving them peace and reassurance.’