Why We Ignore Ongoing Genocide in Sudan

Genocide is happening in Sudan right now. The conflict is the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis. Experts estimate that the death toll could already be in the hundreds of thousands. The suffering shows no signs of slowing. And yet, Western society does not seem to care. Students participate in walkouts to show solidarity with those suffering in Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine, but most are either unaware of or uninterested in showing the same support for the Sudanese people. On social media, people seldom mention the Sudanese crisis but claim to stand up for justice. Why, in a time when we are more involved in international politics than ever before, are we so ignorant?

To understand why we are ignorant, we must first understand what we have been choosing to ignore. The two current major powers in the Sudanese Civil War are the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The SAF is the official national military of Sudan headed by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, while the RSF is a paramilitary group headed by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemedti) that descended from the Janjaweed militia—the forces that were the primary executors of the Darfur genocide in 2003 under long-time dictator of Sudan Omar al-Bashir. The two formerly collaborated to orchestrate a coup in 2019 to remove al-Bashir from power, with the stated intention of eventually establishing a democracy after a period under a transitional government. A deal in December 2022 proposed both a two-year timeline for transition into democratic governance and a plan for integrating the RSF into the SAF without a set time frame. However, Burhan and Hemedti’s continued disagreements prevented the execution of the transition, and on April 15, 2023, violence erupted between the RSF and SAF in Khartoum, beginning the civil war that continues today. Both parties accused the other of firing first. 

Former U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared on January 7, 2025 that “members of the RSF and allied militias have committed genocide in Sudan,” based on evidence collected from humanitarian organizations that the RSF had systematically murdered men and boys and mass-raped women and girls belonging to certain ethnic groups.

However, the SAF is not a hero either. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights found in 2024 that both the SAF and RSF had used starvation as a weapon. Both are also guilty of silencing the press through killings, sexual violence, arrests, intimidation, and internet blackouts, which make it significantly more difficult for Western society to see information that could otherwise garner attention to Sudan. However, we still have enough information about the conflict in Sudan to know it is a gross violation of human rights. Though this may be The Spectator’s first op-ed about Sudan in recent years, I am far from the first writer to bring up Western neglect of Sudan. Even so, pieces in traditional media that implore awareness often fail to reach people in the most strikingly ignorant sector of society: social media.

The reason ignorance is so striking on social media is that political activism regarding other conflicts—namely, Israel/Palestine and Ukraine—is ubiquitous. The creators of this content claim to fight for justice, but actively neglect suffering in so many other places. Social media algorithms that feed us content similar to what we’ve previously interacted with cultivate our ignorance, and because social media is made to draw us in, it encourages us to behave in a way that prioritizes a greater sense of belonging in our online communities. Humans seek status within communities through dominance and prestige. Similarly, although political activism on social media aims to create change, it is also motivated by a desire to play the hero and earn the respect of fellow users. In Sudan, there is no clear hero and villain narrative; one cannot feel comfortable supporting the RSF or the SAF, nor should they. Normally, one could claim to fight for justice by condemning the “villain” and rallying for the “hero,” even if that narrative is an oversimplification. In the case of Sudan, we can’t see a clear “right” and “wrong,” so there is no clear path to acceptance. The situation is complicated, and we are uncomfortable with knowing that a complete understanding won’t uncomplicate it.

Through active indifference, Western society is forcing instances of suffering to compete for popular support. There should never be competition when human suffering is at hand. If suffering in Gaza and Ukraine demands the attention of Western society, so should suffering in Sudan. 

Western society as a whole is guilty of selective outrage and hypocrisy, and that is just as much our fault as it is the fault of our leaders. Yes, we can blame Western political leaders for failing to support Sudan when they are so active in supporting Israel, Palestine, and Ukraine. However, we cannot change their behavior; we can only change our own. Righting this wrong demands accountability for our ignorance.

The American public does not only need to show solidarity with the Sudanese people—it also needs to recognize that ignorance regarding Sudan is not a unique problem. Western society is shamefully indifferent towards many other conflicts. For example, the Xinjiang genocide of the Uyghur people in China, the Myanmar Civil War, and the Central African Republic Civil War have gone consistently ignored. Our society is flawed. Our knowledge of the world is strikingly imbalanced. We’re impressionable and biased. Yet, that’s part of being human, and we owe it to the other humans in the world—ones who are suffering in ways we can’t even imagine—to end our ignorance. 

To read more about the Sudanese civil war, click here.