What is driving the rise in marriages between Syrian women and local men in neighboring countries?

Analysis What is driving the rise in marriages between Syrian women and local men in neighboring countries?
1 / 2
Grooms and brides are seen during a mass wedding ceremony that organized by Barzani Charity Foundation in Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government's Irbil, Iraq on April 07, 2017. (Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Short Url
Updated 21 July 2024
Follow

What is driving the rise in marriages between Syrian women and local men in neighboring countries?

What is driving the rise in marriages between Syrian women and local men in neighboring countries?
  • More than a decade of war, displacement, hardship and uncertainty has chipped away at Syrian women’s sense of security
  • Many of these women agree to marry locals to avoid the harsh reality of being a single woman alone in a war-devastated country

LONDON: Informal advertisements for “affordable Syrian brides” have been circulating on Iraqi social media platforms in recent months, several of them perpetuating tropes about Syrian women with lines like: “Marry a Syrian woman for $100 and enjoy delectable dishes and an endearing dialect.”

The controversial posts, which have drawn local media attention, are captioned as though they are advertising chattel. One reads: “You can hear to’borni (a Syrian term of endearment) at home for as little as 500,000 dinars” — the equivalent of $380.

Men promoting the trend lament the exorbitant mahrs requested by Iraqi women, often ranging from $10,000 to $20,000, locals told Arab News. On top of this, they say, prospective Iraqi brides will also often request property, expensive jewelry and cars.

Mahr is a mandatory gift from a groom to his bride in Muslim societies as a form of security and respect, often with legal significance in marriage contracts.




Grooms and Syrian Kurdish brides during a mass wedding ceremony organized by the Barzani Charity Foundation in Irbil, Iraqi Kurdistan. File photo for illustrative purpose only. (Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

The sheer volume of online posts, especially on the video platform TikTok, suggests the trend is genuine. Commentators have expressed outrage at the posts, finding the rhetoric demeaning to both Syrian and Iraqi women.

More than a decade of violence, displacement, economic hardship and uncertainty has already chipped away at Syrian women’s dignity. Now, in neighboring countries where they have sought safety and economic security, they endure a form of commodification.

Many Syrian women, finding themselves as the sole breadwinners for their families, have sought employment in neighboring states, including Iraq, as the economic situation worsens in their home country.

Faced with the harsh reality of being a single woman alone in a conservative society and in countries where the law offers limited protection, some have agreed to marry locals for meager mahrs, if any at all.

Sattam Jadaan Al-Dandah, Syria’s ambassador to Iraq, revealed in January that in 2023 alone, some 5,000 marriages between Syrian women and Iraqi men had been documented.




Syria’s ambassador to Iraq, Sattam Jadaan Al-Dandah, has confirmed the trend about Syrian refugee women being married to Iraqis. (Supplied)

According to the UN Development Programme’s Gender Inequality Index for 2024, Iraq is the fifth worst country in the world for women and girls despite many recent efforts to address gender inequality.

“Syrian women in countries like Iraq, where the law does not provide adequate protection, often find themselves exposed to harassment, exploitation and even trafficking,” Mouna Khaity, a UK-based Syrian feminist and researcher, told Arab News.

“The main reasons Syrian women are agreeing to such arrangements — many even seeking them — in almost all neighboring host countries are the need for protection and the desire to escape a deteriorating economic situation.”

Thirteen years of conflict and economic sanctions have plunged 90 percent of Syria’s population below the poverty line, creating a new social norm where families struggle to survive without women’s labor.




Many Syrian women have found themselves as the sole breadwinners for their families after years of war in their country. (AFP)

“Under relatively normal circumstances women and girls’ communities and families would provide a level of protection, even though this sometimes entails unwanted intervention or even control,” said Khaity.

The erosion of this protection due to displacement has left Syrian women and girls more vulnerable.

About 5.4 million Syrians live in five countries across the region — Turkiye, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt — with more than 70 percent of them being women, according to UN figures.




After 13 years of civil conflict, lack of international funding has severely undercut the provision of basic services such as water, waste disposal and sanitation in displacement camps in northwest Syria, according to the United Nations. (AFP)

“Women in need of protection will accept a lower mahr compared to women who live within the protection of their families in their home countries,” said Khaity.

However, a woman’s decision to pursue marriage for economic reasons “is often not a personal choice but a collective family decision, with women — even girls — being persuaded this is an opportunity for a better life.

“This is often seen in displacement camps, where women don’t even have the option to choose, and marriage to a local can be perceived as a convenient way to transform from a charity recipient to a dignified and protected woman.”

The Norwegian Refugee Council in 2016 reported an alarming increase in occurence of child marriages within Syrian refugee communities, with girls as young as 13 being married off.




Grooms and Syrian Kurdish brides during a mass wedding ceremony organized by the Barzani Charity Foundation in Irbil, Iraqi Kurdistan. File photo for illustrative purpose only. (Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

A 2023 report by American Near East Refugee Aid, an NGO that addresses the needs of refugees and vulnerable communities in Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan, found that 41 percent of Syrian refugee women aged 20 to 24 in Lebanon were married before turning 18.

Stressing that the situation has been created by “layers of discrimination and injustices,” Khaity said the blame for such marriages should not be placed solely on individuals or families, but on “entire systems” that have normalized the exploitation of Syrian women through a lack of accountability.

“Neighboring countries have not been seeking to integrate Syrian refugees, who are being excluded by local communities and exploited by politicians for economic benefits,” she said.

Deeply rooted gender-related economic inequalities have long disadvantaged women, and the war has only widened this gap, despite increasing the proportion of women who earn an income.




Many Syrian women have found themselves as the sole breadwinners for their families after years of war in their country. (AFP)

“Middle Eastern societies have historically accumulated wealth in men’s hands, forcing women to be largely dependent on men,” said Khaity, adding that this has been achieved through “political systems, social norms and religious institutions.”

“Obedience to husbands has often been linked to men’s financial superiority and dominance, and consequently women’s reliance on them. There are financial resources that women cannot access.”

She added: “The war has deepened inequities, impoverished the majority of the population, heightened women’s vulnerability and displaced millions — all of which has devastated Syrian society.

“Therefore, many Syrian women have sought marriages with locals in host countries as a means to protect themselves, and often their families too, from all kinds of indignities — particularly in societies that have shown them hostility.”




The erosion of this protection due to displacement has left Syrian women and girls more vulnerable. (AFP)

Since the outbreak of civil war in 2011, which forced millions to flee abroad, Syrians in Lebanon, Turkiye and Jordan have repeatedly encountered waves of violence and threats of deportation.

Douna Haj Ahmed, a UK-based Syrian human rights activist, believes this new status quo “has created a form of modern slavery where Syrian women are commodified and traded under the guise of marriage.”

She told Arab News that the marriage arrangements promoted on Iraqi social media “reduce women to mere objects for sale,” calling the phenomenon “a stark reminder of how conflict and poverty can lead to the resurgence of exploitative systems akin to slavery.”

She added: “Such exploitation is not only unethical but also profoundly inhumane. Marriage should be grounded in mutual respect and genuine affection, not in exploiting the more vulnerable party’s needs.”

Thirteen years of conflict and displacement have placed Syrian women in “a class of their own,” said Khaity. “There is tolerance for the dehumanization of Syrian women, who are now perceived as having fewer rights.”

Both activists also believe Syrian women have been commodified by deceptive TV dramas. Iraqi TikTok posts promoting marriage to Syrian women even feature clips from controversial Syrian programs portraying Damascene women as part of an obedient, attentive harem.




Syrian women had been portrayed in a popular drama series as the obedient servants to their husband, doing only domestic chores such as cooking and cleaning by day, and providing pleasuring by night. (AFP/File)

Khaity says the drama genre known in Syria as “Al-Bi’a Al-Shamiyeh” — or Damascene culture — has propagated an “untrue, historically inaccurate, and unfair image of Syrian women and their role in society.”

Since the 1990s, numerous Syrian dramas have portrayed Damascene women as ravishing beauties with an innate talent for cooking, household management and seduction. They scurry to attend to their husbands’ needs, rub their feet, shower them with affection, and even hand feed them.

The popularity of Syrian drama series across the Arabic-speaking world has played a significant role in creating and reinforcing such harmful stereotypes.

“For decades, Syrian drama has perpetuated an image of the Syrian woman as the obedient servant to her husband, whose life revolves around meeting his needs through cooking and cleaning by day, and pampering and pleasuring by night,” said Haj Ahmed.

“This negative portrayal has reinforced outdated and misleading ideas about women’s roles in Syrian society.”




Syria's long-running war has rendered hundreds of thousands of women and children vulnerable to abuses. (AFP/File)

Haj Ahmed said that amid harsh economic circumstances, “many young men in Arab countries have seen the war in Syria as an opportunity to fulfill unhealthy desires for marriage.

“They have exploited the vulnerability of Syrian girls caused by war and poverty, forcing some Syrian families to make harsh compromises and accept any suitor for their daughters in a desperate bid to alleviate the family’s financial burden.”

She added that the social media trend promoting Syrian brides for $100 “goes beyond discrimination and hate speech” to “reflect the patriarchal mentality that objectifies women, particularly in times of war and disaster.

“This narrative confirms that women are among the first to suffer in such situations. What Syrian women are experiencing is a recurring scenario for women in all conflict zones.”
 

 


US adding second aircraft carrier in Middle East

US adding second aircraft carrier in Middle East
Updated 14 min 18 sec ago
Follow

US adding second aircraft carrier in Middle East

US adding second aircraft carrier in Middle East
  • The Harry S. Truman carrier strike group will be joined by the Carl Vinson “to continue promoting regional stability, deter aggression, and protect the free flow of commerce in the region,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement

WASHINGTON: The United States is increasing the number of aircraft carriers deployed in the Middle East to two, keeping one that is already there and sending another from the Indo-Pacific, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
The announcement comes as US forces hammer Yemen’s Houthi rebels with near-daily air strikes in a campaign aimed at ending the threat they pose to civilian shipping and military vessels in the region.
The Carl Vinson will join the Harry S. Truman in the Middle East “to continue promoting regional stability, deter aggression, and protect the free flow of commerce in the region,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
“To complement the CENTCOM maritime posture, the secretary also ordered the deployment of additional squadrons and other air assets that will further reinforce our defensive air-support capabilities,” Parnell said, referring to the US military command responsible for the region.
“The United States and its partners remain committed to regional security in the CENTCOM (area of responsibility) and are prepared to respond to any state or non-state actor seeking to broaden or escalate conflict in the region,” he added.
The Houthis began targeting shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden after the start of the Gaza war in 2023, claiming solidarity with Palestinians.
Houthi attacks have prevented ships from passing through the Suez Canal, a vital route that normally carries about 12 percent of world shipping traffic. Ongoing attacks are forcing many companies into a costly detour around the tip of southern Africa.

A day before the carrier announcement, US President Donald Trump vowed that strikes on Yemen’s Houthis would continue until they are no longer a threat to shipping.
“The choice for the Houthis is clear: Stop shooting at US ships, and we will stop shooting at you. Otherwise, we have only just begun, and the real pain is yet to come, for both the Houthis and their sponsors in Iran,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Trump added that the Houthis had been “decimated” by “relentless” strikes since March 15, saying that US forces “hit them every day and night — Harder and harder.”
He has also ramped up rhetoric toward Tehran, with the president threatening that “there will be bombing” if Iran does not reach a deal on its nuclear program.
Trump’s threats come as his administration battles a scandal over the accidental leak of a secret group chat by senior security officials on the Yemen strikes.
The Atlantic magazine revealed last week that its editor — a well-known US journalist — was inadvertently included in a chat on the commercially available Signal app where top officials were discussing the strikes.
The officials, including Trump’s National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, discussed details of air strike timings and intelligence — unaware that the highly sensitive information was being simultaneously read by a member of the media.

 


Three injured in Iraq when an axe-wielding man attacks an Assyrian Christian new year parade

Three injured in Iraq when an axe-wielding man attacks an Assyrian Christian new year parade
Updated 01 April 2025
Follow

Three injured in Iraq when an axe-wielding man attacks an Assyrian Christian new year parade

Three injured in Iraq when an axe-wielding man attacks an Assyrian Christian new year parade
  • Witnesses said the attacker, who has not been officially identified, ran toward the crowd shouting Islamic slogans
  • He struck three people with the axe before being stopped by participants and security forces

IRBIL: The annual parade by Assyrian Christians in the Iraqi city of Dohuk to mark their new year was marred Tuesday when an axe-wielding man attacked the procession and wounded three people, witnesses and local officials said.
The parade, held every year on April 1, drew thousands of Assyrians from Iraq and across the diaspora, who marched through Dohuk in northern Iraq waving Assyrian flags and wearing colorful traditional clothes.
Witnesses said the attacker, who has not been officially identified, ran toward the crowd shouting Islamic slogans.
He struck three people with the axe before being stopped by participants and security forces. Videos circulated online showed him pinned to the ground, repeatedly shouting, “Daesh, the Daesh remains.”
The victims included a 17-year-old boy and a 75-year-old woman, both of whom suffered skull fractures. A member of the local security forces, who was operating a surveillance drone, was also injured. All three were hospitalized, local security officials said.
At the hospital where her 17-year-old son Fardi was being treated after suffering a skull injury in the attack, Athraa Abdullah told The Associated Press that her son had come with his friends in buses. He was sending photos from the celebrations shortly before his friends called to say he had been attacked, she said.
Abdullah, whose family was displaced when Daesh militants swept into their area in 2014, said, “We were already attacked and displaced by Daesh, and today we faced a terrorist attack at a place we came to for shelter.”
Janet Aprem Odisho, whose 75-year-old mother Yoniyah Khoshaba was among the wounded, said she and her mother were shopping near the parade when the attack happened.
“He was running at us with an axe,” she said. “All I remember is that he hit my mother, and I ran away when she fell. He had already attacked a young man who was bleeding in the street, then he tried to attack more people.”
Her family, originally from Baghdad, was also displaced by past violence and now lives in Ain Baqre village near the town of Alqosh.
Assyrians faced a wave of hate speech and offensive comments on social media following the incident.
Ninab Yousif Toma, a political bureau member of the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM), condemned the regional government in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region and Iraqi federal authorities to address extremist indoctrination.
“We request both governments to review the religious and education curriculums that plant hate in people’s heads and encourage ethnic and religious extremism,” he said. “This was obviously an inhumane terrorist attack.”
However, he said that the Assyrian community had celebrated their new year, known as Akitu, in Duhok since the 1990s without incidents of violence and acknowledged the support of local Kurdish Muslim residents.
“The Kurds in Duhok serve us water and candy even when they are fasting for Ramadan. This was likely an individual, unplanned attack, and it will not scare our people,” he said, adding that the community was waiting for the results of the official investigation and planned to file an official lawsuit.
“The Middle East is governed by religion, and as minorities, we suffer double because we are both ethnically and religiously different from the majority,” he said. “But we have a cause, and we marched today to show that we have existed here for thousands of years. This attack will not stop our people.”
Despite the attack, Assyrians continued the celebrations of the holiday, which symbolizes renewal and rebirth in Assyrian culture as well as resilience and continuous existence as an indigenous group.
At one point, as the injured teenager was rushed to the hospital, some participants wrapped his head in an Assyrian flag, which was later lifted again in the parade— stained with blood but held high as a symbol of resilience.


Nationwide power outage in Syria due to malfunctions, energy minister’s spokesperson says

Nationwide power outage in Syria due to malfunctions, energy minister’s spokesperson says
Updated 01 April 2025
Follow

Nationwide power outage in Syria due to malfunctions, energy minister’s spokesperson says

Nationwide power outage in Syria due to malfunctions, energy minister’s spokesperson says
  • Syria suffers from severe power shortages, with state-supplied electricity available for only two or three hours a day in most areas

DAMASCUS: Syria suffered a nationwide power outage on Tuesday night due to malfunctions at several points in the national grid, a spokesperson from the energy ministry told Reuters.
The spokesperson said technical teams were addressing the issues.
Syria suffers from severe power shortages, with state-supplied electricity available for only two or three hours a day in most areas. Damage to the grid means that generating or supplying more power is only part of the problem.
Damascus used to receive the bulk of its oil for power generation from Iran, but supplies have been cut off since Islamist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham led
the ouster of Tehran-allied former president Bashar Assad in December.
The former interim government under President Ahmed Al-Sharaa has pledged to quickly ramp up power supply, partly by importing electricity from Jordan and using floating power barges.
Damascus also said it will receive two electricity-generating ships from Turkiye and Qatar to boost energy supplies.


Turkish opposition calls for boycott over jailed students

Turkish opposition calls for boycott over jailed students
Updated 01 April 2025
Follow

Turkish opposition calls for boycott over jailed students

Turkish opposition calls for boycott over jailed students
  • Istanbul public prosecutor’s office said it was opening an investigation against people who had launched or shared calls for a boycott

ISTANBUL: The leader of Turkiye’s main opposition party has called for a boycott on Wednesday to protest the detention of students rallying in support of Istanbul’s jailed opposition mayor.
“Stop all purchases! Supermarkets, online shopping, restaurants, petrol, coffees, bills, buy nothing,” said Ozgur Ozel, head of the CHP party to which mayor Ekrem Imamoglu belongs, on Tuesday.
“I invite everyone to use their consumer power by participating in this boycott,” added Ozel, echoing an appeal launched by student groups.
Ozel said 301 students have been arrested and detained for taking part in the protests against the detention on March 19 of Imamoglu, widely considered President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s greatest political rival.
In the wake of his message, the Istanbul public prosecutor’s office said it was opening an investigation against people who had launched or shared calls for a boycott, according to the official Anadolu news agency.
That investigation would notably probe “incitement to hatred,” the agency added.
Lawyers and politicians supportive of Imamoglu have denounced rough treatment of students by police.
The CHP leader had already launched a call to boycott dozens of Turkish companies and groups reputed to be close to the government, in a bid to put pressure on the authorities.
Imamoglu’s arrest on corruption charges, which he denies, have set off a wave of popular protests unseen in Turkiye for more than a decade.
Turkiye’s authorities had banned demonstrations in Istanbul, the large western city of Izmir and the capital Ankara in response.


How grassroots activists are stepping in to care for Sudan’s war-scarred communities

How grassroots activists are stepping in to care for Sudan’s war-scarred communities
Updated 02 April 2025
Follow

How grassroots activists are stepping in to care for Sudan’s war-scarred communities

How grassroots activists are stepping in to care for Sudan’s war-scarred communities
  • Sudan’s conflict has left millions without access to basic services, forcing civilians to become self reliant
  • Volunteer networks have become essential, filling gaps left by humanitarian aid shortages and failing state institutions

LONDON: Abandoned by the rest of the world and condemned to endure a crisis with no apparent end in sight, communities in war-torn Sudan are taking matters into their own hands, providing public services in place of state institutions that have long since collapsed.

Grassroots efforts are being made to help families who have chosen to remain in Sudan to cope with the trauma of war, from mental health support in emergency response rooms, known as ERRs, to volunteer networks reuniting displaced loved ones.

Two years into the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, aid delivery remains sporadic, internet access unreliable, and violence a persistent threat to civilian lives and infrastructure.

Despite this, networks of volunteers, many of them war survivors themselves, have stepped into the vacuum to assist others — offering a quiet form of resilience in the face of events beyond their control.

Despite the resilience of these community-level initiatives, grassroots leaders say they cannot do it alone. (AFP)

“We provide free mental health services to individuals and groups who are victims of war,” Maab Labib, a mental health professional and coordinator of the psychosocial support team at the Bahri Emergency Room, one of the most active ERRs in the capital, told Arab News.

“We currently have 25 therapists and psychologists. So far, we’ve provided individual psychological support to over 1,500 people.”

Founded in the first week of the war, the team’s reach now extends well beyond Bahri to other parts of Khartoum and multiple states across Sudan. The initiative combines online consultations with in-person group sessions held in safe areas.

“Our services are not limited by age, gender or nationality,” said Labib. “We have supported Sudanese and non-Sudanese, survivors of gender-based violence, and even soldiers.”

However, the weight of the war has not spared the caregivers. “The service providers themselves are displaced and traumatized. We offer peer-to-peer emotional support, but the lack of resources and the constant threat of violence make it very hard to continue.”

In the absence of functioning public institutions, the Bahri Emergency Room team is part of a wider constellation of mutual aid structures that emerged from Sudan’s revolutionary fabric.

Two years into the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, aid delivery remains sporadic. (AFP)

These include communal kitchens, neighborhood support groups, and psychological first aid training programs — many of which trace their origins to the 2018-19 uprising against long-time ruler Omar Bashir.

According to Guido Lanfranchi, a research fellow at the Clingendael Institute, a Dutch think tank, these local support networks reflect a deeper political dimension.

“They are a beacon of hope, showing that people can come together to support each other even as the state collapses and militarization deepens,” he told Arab News. “They don’t have power to influence military dynamics, but they keep alive the spirit of the revolution.”

Yet that very symbolism has made them targets. “Mutual aid groups are being attacked by both sides,” Anette Hoffmann, also of the Clingendael Institute, told Arab News.

“Early in the war, the SAF issued a law banning service committees. In RSF-controlled areas, groups have been accused of collaborating with the enemy. And some volunteers have even been asked by the RSF to work with them in exchange for money.”

She added: “Romanticizing their efforts is dangerous. They are desperate for support and very capable of managing large-scale funding — yet the international community has largely turned away.”

According to the UN, almost 25 million people — more than half of Sudan’s population — are now in need of humanitarian assistance, making it one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing crises.

The recent suspension of USAID-funded programs has worsened the situation dramatically, especially in regions where US-backed partners were among the few delivering food, medical supplies, and protection services.

Networks of volunteers, many of them war survivors themselves, have stepped into the vacuum to assist others. (AFP)

The shutdown has forced numerous nongovernmental organizations to scale back or cease operations altogether, increasing the burden on under-resourced local initiatives.

For many communities, the loss of these lifelines has meant the difference between a meal and an empty stomach, between trauma support and suffering in silence.

That vacuum is deeply felt by grassroots groups trying to maintain food programs and trauma support across multiple regions.

The Safe Haven Organization, formerly known as the Save Geneina Initiative, is one such group. It operates across both Sudan and Chad, managing kitchens and child-friendly spaces in displacement centers.

“In Sudan, we supported 4,500 families a day through our kitchens,” Mozamul Mohammed Ali, himself a refugee and now project manager in Adre, eastern Chad, told Arab News.

“But some kitchens had to stop due to lack of funds. In places like Algazira and Sennar, we simply could not continue.”

Grassroots efforts are being made to help families who have chosen to remain in Sudan to cope with the trauma of war. (AFP)

Ali, who lives in a refugee camp, described the pressures local initiatives now face.

“When other NGOs — especially those backed by USAID — pulled out, it fell to us to cover more and more people,” he said. “We depend on crowdfunding, and we keep going because we’re part of the same community.”

As a result, they have had to adapt over time. “At first it was just food, then healthcare, then mental health. Now we’re doing reunifications,” he said.

“We found a 9-year-old boy who was separated from his family for nearly a year while crossing into Chad. Our volunteers located him in Abeche, and after receiving psychological support, he was reunited with his parents.”

Inside Sudan, the organization’s reach continues despite the chaos. “We work in army-held areas, using volunteers from within each community,” said Ali.

“But there are more displaced people now. More trauma. Inflation is up. Fuel is scarce. Even communication is hard — blackouts and bad networks slow everything down.”

Mental health problems, in particular, are a growing concern. “There’s a significant rise in trauma-related disorders, especially among women and children,” Mohammed Abkar Goma, a trauma center manager for Safe Haven, told Arab News.

According to Guido Lanfranchi, a research fellow at the Clingendael Institute, a Dutch think tank, these local support networks reflect a deeper political dimension. (AFP)

“But stigma remains high. People are afraid to seek help.”

To bridge this gap, the group also trains non-specialists in psychological first aid. “We focus on breathing, grounding, listening,” said Goma. “Our goal is to help people hold each other through trauma — especially in camps and shelters where professional services are not available.”

Despite the resilience of these community-level initiatives, grassroots leaders say they cannot do it alone. “The needs have become more complex,” said Ali.

“We started with just food and shelter. Now, we need sustained health services, education, and trauma care. And we need the international community to recognize that we can manage these programs only if we get the support.”

According to the UN, almost 25 million people — more than half of Sudan’s population — are now in need of humanitarian assistance. (AFP)

Lanfranchi of the Clingendael Institute believes Sudan’s grassroots activists — the remnants of a once flourishing civil society — need all the help they can get.

“It’s a form of quiet political defiance,” he said. “The state is collapsing. International actors are absent. And yet, these community groups are stepping in — not just to survive, but to resist fragmentation.”

And despite the risks posed by Sudan’s armed actors, the volunteers say they have no choice but to continue. “We are not heroes,” said Ali. “We just couldn’t watch our people suffer without doing something.”