Sudanese Women Are Facing Difficult Conditions After Nearly a Year of Conflict

The suffering of women in Sudan- File Photo
The suffering of women in Sudan- File Photo
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Sudanese Women Are Facing Difficult Conditions After Nearly a Year of Conflict

The suffering of women in Sudan- File Photo
The suffering of women in Sudan- File Photo

As the world marks International Women's Day, Sudanese women continue to struggle with extremely difficult humanitarian conditions. Women have been subjected to various kinds of gross human rights violations since the war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces broke out last year.

For millions of Sudanese women, the past year has been a living hell of sexual assault, rape, and forced displacement. Many have walked long distances on foot as they made their way to camps in neighboring countries; others waited at border crossings for months before obtaining visas.

Rehab Al-Mubarak, a member of Sudan’s Emergency Lawyers, explains the dire situation women are living under in Sudan.

"Women have paid a high price for this war. They have been subjected to forced labor. Many have been gravely harmed, and many are being gravely harmed. Some have been forced to work in domestic labor, and have been subjected to horrific forms of sexual violence and brutally raped. They have few options, and they are struggling to survive and escape from the regions in which battles are raging."

Umm Muhammad has been working for a civic organization since fighting broke out in Khartoum and engulfed her neighborhood. She says: "The war forced us to leave our homes, our lives, our memories, and all of our possessions. We went through hell when we were forced out of the capital. We witnessed the destruction of our city; we saw its markets burn. We will never forget the pain of seeing the corpses left along the road."

She also described the trauma that her daughter experienced after being shot at while they had been trying to escape the capital. “We faced real terror, as whenever we passed a military checkpoint, we would be shot at continuously to force the driver to stop moving."

Heba Khatmi, a teacher who survived the war in Khartoum, also told her story. "I fled Khartoum and sought refuge in my father's hometown of Abri, only to fall totally mute for a time. My mind refused to recall what had happened in Khartoum. Settling in the town where I found refuge was not easy. I began to think about leaving Sudan after losing hope that the war would end, as well as facing financial constraints after losing my job."

Iman Fadel, a member of the Sudanese Journalists’ Union, shared the painful stories of women journalists. "Most of them have lost their source of income after most newspapers stopped operating, and they sought refuge in camps, living under extremely difficult humanitarian conditions. Their pain was exacerbated by being targeted, and we must not forget what happened to Samaher Abdel Shafei, the journalist who was assassinated in Darfur, and Halima Idris, the journalist who was killed while covering battle at Omdurman Hospital."

The United Nations published reports last week documenting further violations against women in Darfur, including murder, forced displacement, and rape. Some of the victims are children. Condemnations of the violence compare the events unfolding today to the violence that devastated the region around twenty years ago. Over 200,000 people were killed at the time. One particularly notorious crime against humanity was the mass rape perpetrated in the village of Tabit.

Volunteers and human rights organizations accuse both belligerents in Sudan of detaining hundreds of women on trumped-up espionage charges, or merely because of their ethnic background.

The Darfur Lawyers Association announced last February that authorities in the city of Atbara (530 kilometers from Khartoum) had arrested Inaam Ahmed Khairy and Salma Hassan because they are part of the Messiria tribe and belonging an ethnic group associated with the Rapid Support Forces.

Research on education in Sudan conducted since the war erupted demonstrates the devastating impact it has had on the country’s 11 million students, half of whom are girls. Many could be forced into child marriage or flee their homes.



Syria's Aviation Comeback Struggles amid Regional Turmoil

An airport worker walks on the tarmac next to a Syrian Air plane at the Damascus International Airport on January 7, 2025. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
An airport worker walks on the tarmac next to a Syrian Air plane at the Damascus International Airport on January 7, 2025. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
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Syria's Aviation Comeback Struggles amid Regional Turmoil

An airport worker walks on the tarmac next to a Syrian Air plane at the Damascus International Airport on January 7, 2025. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
An airport worker walks on the tarmac next to a Syrian Air plane at the Damascus International Airport on January 7, 2025. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)

Poor infrastructure, regional conflict and sporadic Israeli airstrikes are holding back more airlines from returning to Syria, industry officials told Reuters, hampering efforts to rebuild a shattered economy after 14 years of civil war.

This month, at least 11 foreign airlines are scheduled to fly into Syria, up from just three a year ago, as sanctions are scaled back following the overthrow of long-time leader Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

These include the world's largest international carrier, Dubai's Emirates, and the first two European Union-based airlines to fly into Syria since 2011: Romania's Dan Air and Greece's Air Mediterranean, Reuters said.

But airlines such as Royal Jordanian, FlyDubai, Turkish Airlines and Qatar Airways last month were forced to cancel many of their recently launched flights as airspace across the Middle East closed to civil air traffic due to air and missile attacks involving Israel, the US and Iran.

There are dangers closer to home too. Israel carried out strikes against Syrian government forces in southwestern Syria for a second day on Tuesday, vowing to keep the area demilitarized and to protect the Druze minority there.

At the same time, airlines are worried about the state of Syria's aviation infrastructure and management of the industry.

"Progress is needed in regulatory oversight, infrastructure investment, and compliance with international safety and operational standards," industry body the International Air Transport Association said.

Major carriers such as Lufthansa and Air France KLM, which used to fly to Syria pre-war, have visited Damascus airport to assess the infrastructure and former offices, officials at Damascus airport and Syria's aviation regulator told Reuters.

However, both airlines told Reuters they had no current interest in resuming flights.

Small Romanian airline Dan Air launched its Bucharest to Damascus route last month.

"What held back operators until now were the logistical and regulatory complexities," Dan Air CEO Matt Ian David told Reuters, adding that eased sanctions would now make Syria more accessible.

Emirates at the end of May resumed flying over Syria for the first time since the civil war, shaving up to an hour off a Dubai to Beirut flight.

However, several countries, including Britain and the United States, still advise their airlines to avoid flying over Syria. Europe's aviation regulator EASA says "there is a risk of both intentional targeting and misidentification of civil aircraft".

Syria completely reopened its airspace on June 24, its civil air authority said.

Damascus Airport's two runways were bombed during the civil war, but have been repaired. The airport was also looted during the chaos of Assad's fall.

Alaa Sallal, director of public relations at Syria's Civil Aviation Authority, told Reuters a number of airlines had been to inspect security and infrastructure at the airport.

"The airport's construction was dilapidated, the equipment was worn out and some missing," Sallal said.

Radar equipment was lacking, leaving the country reliant on Lebanese or Turkish radar to monitor air traffic, he said.

The head of Syria's General Authority for Civil Aviation earlier this month said it wanted to build new airports in Damascus, Aleppo and in the country's central region. But that will take time and money that the war-ravaged country may struggle to find on its own.

NEW AIRLINES

The mostly Iranian and Iraqi carriers that served Syria through its long conflict have largely stopped flying there, reflecting a new political landscape after Iran- and Russia-backed Assad's overthrow.

The flag carriers of Qatar and Türkiye, countries that backed Syria's rebels through the war, were the first big airlines to resume flights in January under President Ahmed al-Sharaa's new leadership.

Türkiye, a close ally of the new government, has been helping improve Syria's airports, its transport ministry has said.