Sudan’s Academics Join the Protests

Sudanese protesters gather in the capital Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman on January 25, 2019. (AFP)
Sudanese protesters gather in the capital Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman on January 25, 2019. (AFP)
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Sudan’s Academics Join the Protests

Sudanese protesters gather in the capital Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman on January 25, 2019. (AFP)
Sudanese protesters gather in the capital Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman on January 25, 2019. (AFP)

Hundreds of professors and academics from the University of Khartoum on Wednesday protested on campus and presented an initiative in which they proposed a transitional period.

The protest was the second that University of Khartoum professors have held since the outbreak of demonstrations in the country about a month and a half ago.

In this regard, Professor Mohammed Yousef Ahmed al-Mustapha, a member of the "Khartoum University Professors' Initiative", said the dean of the university rejected the initiative, describing it as biased.

More than 300 professors and lecturers from the university held a sit-in inside the campus, said witnesses, while 531 university staff members signed the "Professors' Initiative," listing a series of demands, including a transitional government be formed in Sudan.

In related news, security forces announced the release of the daughter of Sudanese opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi, Mariam, hours after her detention.

Two security vehicles arrived at Mariam’s home in Khartoum in the morning and took her away for questioning, a day after Sudan’s security chief ordered the release of dozens of detained protesters.

Mahdi said the arrest is an attempt to intimidate her and her children, asserting that this will not stop the protests.

Meanwhile, the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) announced the program of protests and demonstrations that will take place in various cities of Sudan Thursday, including Khartoum and Omdurman, saying protesters will march towards the presidential palace.

On the other hand, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) renewed in a statement its support to President Omar al-Bashir saying it is ready to face those destabilizing the country, and stressing that it will not allow the Sudanese state to collapse or fall into chaos.

This came during a meeting between Sudan’s Defense Minister, Awad Ibn Ouf, and SAF’s Chief of General Staff Kamal Abdel-Marouf who briefed army officers in the ranks of Brigadier General and Colonel on the situation in the country.

The Defense Minister said that some parties have sought to provoke the Army in order to drag it into “illogical action that doesn’t fall in conformity with its history.”

Ibn Ouf added that the army would neither compromise the security of the country nor its leadership.

The Chief of General Staff stressed the SAF wouldn’t allow the country to collapse, saying those leading the protests are the same persons who remained hostile to Sudan and sought to distort its world image.

Ibn Ouf vowed to resort to the law and prosecute those who aim to tarnish the efforts of the SAF, saying the army wouldn’t hand over the country to the leaders of the rebellion or agents of the suspicious foreign organizations.

A wave of protests have shaken cities across Sudan since December 19, where demonstrators call for improving living conditions and the economic situation in the country. Protesters have also called for an end to Bashir’s three-decade rule.



Syrian Returns from Lebanon to Start under UN-backed Plan

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
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Syrian Returns from Lebanon to Start under UN-backed Plan

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo

Thousands of Syrian refugees are set to return from Lebanon this week under the first, UN-backed plan providing financial incentives, after Syria's new rulers said all citizens were welcome home despite deep war damage and security concerns.

Returning Syrians will be provided with $100 each in Lebanon and $400 per family upon arrival in Syria, Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed said. Transport is also covered and fees have been waived by border authorities, she said.

"I think it's a good and important start. We have discussed and are coordinating this with our Syrian counterparts and I think the numbers will increase in the coming weeks," Sayed told Reuters. A Syrian interior ministry spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

More than 6 million Syrians fled as refugees after conflict broke out in Syria in 2011, with most heading to Türkiye, Lebanon and Jordan. Lebanon has the highest concentration of refugees per capita in the world, hosting about 1.5 million Syrians among a population of about 4 million Lebanese.

Some 11,000 have registered to return from Lebanon in the first week, and the government targets between 200,000 and 400,000 returns this year under the plan, Sayed said.

The Lebanese government is focused on informal tented settlements in the country, where some 200,000 refugees live, she added, and may provide Syrian breadwinners who stay in Lebanon with work permits for sectors such as agriculture and construction if their families return to Syria.

UN agencies previously viewed Syria as unsafe for large-scale returns due to uncertainty over security and persecution by the government of Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled in December.

That has changed.

Since taking over, the new Syrian government has said all Syrians are welcome home. A UN survey from earlier this year showed nearly 30% of refugees living in Middle Eastern countries wanted to go back, up from 2% when Assad was in power.

"While the situation in Syria continues to rapidly evolve, (UN refugee agency) UNHCR considers the current context a positive opportunity for larger numbers of Syrian refugees to return home, or to begin considering return in a realistic and durable way," Ivo Freijsen, UNHCR Representative in Lebanon, told Reuters.

As of the end of June 2025, UNHCR estimated that over 628,000 Syrians had crossed back to Syria via neighboring countries since 8 December 2024, including 191,000 via Lebanon.