Christians sheltered in the Episcopal Church in El Fasher. (Photo: Christian Solidarity Worldwide)
A senior Sudanese church leader has issued an urgent appeal for global action, warning that Sudan’s escalating civil war has created one of the world’s most overlooked humanitarian disasters.
Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo, head of the Province of Sudan and Bishop of Khartoum, made the appeal during a visit to Sarum College in Salisbury last month.
He described a nation pushed to the brink by a conflict that has uprooted 12 million people and may have killed up to 150,000 people, almost double the initial estimates.
“The humanitarian crisis in Sudan is huge,” he said, explaining that some families are so desperate they are eating “trees” and “animals’ food”, while struggling to survive without consistent access to food, water or shelter.
While international attention has centred on the occupation of El Fasher, where paramilitary forces stand accused of mass killings and abuses against civilians, Archbishop Kondo said the brutality is far more widespread.
He verified the atrocities also occurring in Kum, the Nuba Mountains area of Daleng, and in Barra, a volatile area of North Kordofan.
He criticised the limited media coverage of Sudan’s war, arguing that the scale of suffering rivals — and in some areas exceeds — other global crises in places such as Gaza and Ukraine.
“People are dying just silently,” he said, describing harrowing accounts of civilians forced to dig their own graves before being executed. “Things are so bad.”
Despite the dangers, churches across Sudan are distributing life-saving emergency aid with help from international partners, including UK-based supporters.
As banks and transport systems have collapsed, local pastors are using phone-based money transfers to purchase food and distribute assistance to both Christians and Muslims.
Archbishop Kondo embraced the diplomatic efforts by the Quad group, which consists of Egypt, the USA, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. They are seeking to negotiate a ceasefire but the archbishop insisted that more international pressure is needed.
Referring to the possibility of an end to the conflict, he said: “I believe that it will come one time. We don’t know exactly whether it is close, but God knows it.”
In the meantime, the world “cannot just watch and see people dying” while atrocities continue to be committed, he said, as he urged the international community to intervene.
The archbishop concluded by issuing a direct plea to Christians internationally to stand with Sudan during what he called a defining moment for the country’s survival.
He stated: “I want Christians in [the UK] and in other countries to know that Sudan is suffering. And we want them to pray for Sudan and for the people of Sudan in general. And we want them also to give in order to support the suffering people, and rebuilding our properties which have been destroyed, and I hope this message will go to everybody.”
He added that he hopes those “whom God has blessed with good wealth” will share generously with communities who have lost everything.
