What is happening to refugees in Khartoum?

Right now, refugees are being kidnapped for ransom in Khartoum.

Security officials are kidnapping vulnerable refugees off the streets of Sudan’s capital Khartoum – sometimes even from their homes or workplaces. As a refugee, you face a choice of paying cash or being detained. 

The prisons are crowded, you don’t get enough to eat, there is no clean water and physical abuse and sexual violence are common. At first, in December 2021, kidnappings took place a few days a week – but since last July, they’re happening nearly every day.

Most refugees find themselves confined to their homes in hiding – fearful of going out to work or doing simple errands. Many are also going to Libya in an attempt to reach Europe, despite knowing how dangerous the situation is there, because life has become unbearable in Sudan.

At the start, the authorities demanded $200 for the release of a refugee, but that’s increased to $1,100. If you pay the ransom there’s no guarantee of not getting kidnapped again, and many end up behind bars several times. Most of the refugees being kidnapped are Eritreans, but many Ethiopians have also been affected. 

Security officials claim they’re picking refugees up to check their documents. But this is being used as a cover to extort money from a vulnerable and unprotected population.

We believe that these kidnappings and the demands for cash are coming from poorly paid security officials breaking the rules, not from any official government policy or higher orders. We believe that exposing the problem and pressuring the Sudanese authorities could result in action to stop these officials from abusing their powers.

The big white vans used to abduct refugees have become a symbol of terror for Khartoum’s refugee community. No one deserves this kind of life.

We need to come together and pressure Sudanese authorities to stop the kidnappings now.