Several dozen members of the Canadian Sudanese community and their supporters gathered on Parliament Hill in blowing snow Jan. 7 to demonstrate their commitment to a peaceful referendum process in Sudan.
The vote, which began Jan. 9 and will continue until Jan. 15, involves the secession of the southern part of the country and is a condition of a 2005 peace treaty which ended several decades of civil war in the country. According to Doctors Without Borders, the southern Sudan conflict has killed two million people and forced four million from their homes.
Several members of Friends of Sudan Canada attended the rally. They reiterated their call, made in an open letter to MPs earlier this year, to encourage Canadian and international involvement to ensure a fair and free process, which they hope can help prevent further violence.
Former MP turned activist David Kilgour addressed the crowd. Kilgour discussed the implications and possibilities for the referendum, citing other political analysts who fear potential for violence and corruption before and after. He said it was necessary for Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir to “accept the outcome of the vote” and for Canada to maintain its peacekeeping role. According to UN data as of last month, Canada had 24 peacekeepers in the country.
<span >Kilgour also applauded Carleton students’ activism and dedication to spreading awareness on the issue in Canada. According to Kilgour, Canadians have given $800 million in aid to Sudan since 2006.
Ottawa singer-songwriter Emanuel Oletho of The Fugees played a major role in organizing the event. Oletho said he came to Canada two years ago from Ethiopia and had a personal commitment to this cause. “I have survived genocide, and that tells me to stop something like that happening again, ever,” he said. “As Canadians we have an obligation . . . with the means to advocate for peace, why shouldn’t we?”
Kaleigh Norkum, a second-year public affairs student at Carleton University, said she heard about the event through Oletho. She spoke at the rally on behalf of STAND (Students Taking Action Now Darfur) Carleton detailing the history of the Sudanese conflict and expressing her hope for peaceful resolution and further Canadian involvement and awareness.
“If, as a community we don’t participate we‘re saying that their rights are meaningless” she says, and asks that people, especially Canadians be “involved, or at least aware” of what is happening.
Rebecca Warmington, a fourth-year humanities and biology student at Carleton, also attended. She said she was inspired by “people expressing themselves and sharing their past experiences from Sudan… It was very powerful.”
-with files from Ruby Pratka
