“People are just not safe”: Immediate Former Apostolic Nuncio to Sudan on Ongoing Violence

Members of the Clergy, women and men Religious, and the Laity “have basically abandoned their parishes and places of worship,” the Dutch-born diplomat who has been representing the Holy Father in Kenya since he was transferred from Sudan in February 2019 said, adding, “Most of the Christian churches, especially in the center (Khartoum), have been plundered and looted. So, it's all a very sad story.”

The rebuilding of the church infrastructures that have destroyed in the Sudan violence “will take a while”, he said.

The ongoing war that was triggered by tensions linked to an internationally backed plan for a transition towards civilian rule has reportedly displaced more than a million people.

According to Reuters, “Heavy clashes and artillery fire erupted across Sudan's capital Khartoum on Sunday (June 11) and residents reported air strikes soon after the end of a 24-hour ceasefire that had brought a brief lull to eight weeks of fighting between rival military factions.”

In the June 11 interview with ACI Africa, Archbishop van Megen said the violent conflict is causing a serious humanitarian crisis in neighboring South Sudan.

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“Christians are also fleeing into South Sudan. That is a difficult situation because most people are crossing the border to Renk a border town with Northern Sudan,” the Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya who doubles as the representative of the Holy Father in South Sudan said, referencing one of the entry points into South Sudan for those fleeing the Sudan violence, where the Jesuits Refugee Service (JRS) have set up “an outreach point”.

“The problem of Renk is basically that it's isolated in itself, with hardly any roads. The only way to get out of Renk is by boat and so many people have accumulated there,” Archbishop van Megen said about the center where JRS personnel supporting thousands of returnees have warned that the situation of the returnees is likely to worsen with the advent of rains.

Archbishop van Megen further said that international organizations such as the UN, UNHCR and national and State entities, including Caritas South Sudan and Upper Nile State “are struggling very much in helping those people.”

“The Church is doing its best, but as you know at the moment it's limited because it's difficult to get goods into Renk and it's also difficult to get people out of Renk, so it is a very sad situation over there,” he told ACI Africa during the June 11 interview. 

Amid violence in Sudan’s capital, the Vatican diplomat said that the Sudanese Church administration “moved basically from Khartoum to Port Sudan, because Port Sudan and the other major cities in Sudan except El Obeid are not much affected by the war.”