As Sudan crisis rages, groups urge Ottawa to do more to help

The fighting that erupted last April between militias has forced out at least 8.5 million people in what the UN calls the largest internal displacement crisis in the world.

Canada has yet to reunite a single family with relatives who are trying to escape conflict-racked Sudan, while diaspora groups are demanding the federal government do more to end a yearlong civil war.

The fighting that erupted last April between duelling militias in the northeastern African country has forced out at least 8.5 million people in what the United Nations calls the largest internal displacement crisis in the world.

And so far, Canada has done little to stop it, said Imad Satti, director of the Edmonton-based Sudanese Canadian Communities Association.

“We haven’t done anything – just expressing concern, which doesn’t solve any problems,” Satti said. “There’s not enough pushing from the international committee, including Canada, to stop this war.”

Sudan is in the grips of a “catastrophic situation” and on the brink of a manmade famine, UN relief advocate Edem Wosornu told the Security Council last month.

“There are reports of mass graves, gang rapes, shockingly indiscriminate attacks in densely populated areas and many more horrors,” she said. “We are failing the people of Sudan.”

Canada expressed concern about the security situation last spring, and airlifted citizens. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly visited neighbouring Kenya to support neighbouring countries in trying to push for peace.

But since then, Canada has avoided sanctioning warlords or publicly calling out the countries that have helped fuel the war. Satti wants Ottawa to do both — and even press the UN to intervene in hopes of restoring order.