Slaughter in Sudan

Finally, the world has decided to wake up and recognise the slaughter in Sudan.

Mass executions, starvation and the devastating use of rape as a weapon of war have been going on for months and the world's media and governments have been largely silent.

Now foreign secretary Yvette Cooper has called for an immediate ceasefire and announced £5 million in aid to Sudan, with £2 million to be focused on supporting survivors of sexual violence.

"In Sudan right now, there is just despair," she said, noting that reports from the region were "truly horrifying."

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been waging a civil war against the Sudanese government since 2023 and both sides have been accused of multiple human rights violations over the course of the conflict.

The aid announcement comes after RSF swept into the city of Al Fashir where tens of thousands of people were killed in just two days. Stains and shapes believed to be blood and corpses can be seen from space in satellite images. Over a quarter of a million people, half of them children, are now feared to be trapped in the city.

The Sudan Doctors Network also stated that the RSF had cold-bloodedly killed everyone they found inside the Al Saudi Hospital including patients, medical staff and anyone else present on the wards.

So, where are the protests? Where are the students waving flags and proclaiming their solidarity with innocent women and children? Or does their compassion fail when it comes to Africa? Is the conflict just too far away? Or do they need a relentless propaganda campaign to stir their consciences before they are prepared to march on the streets?

What a sad, sad world we live in.