Media Storm - S4E13 Why is no one talking about Sudan? Plus Jess Phillips NHS claim and pub garden smoking ban

Episode Date: September 5, 2024

Headlines about wars in Ukraine and Gaza have flooded front pages - yet, the "world's biggest humanitarian crisis" is battling for media attention. Why?  In Sudan, a terrible war is raging. What started as a conflict between the Sudan Armed forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has exploded into chaos and bloodshed, with countless militias, ethnic massacres, and foreign proxy self-interest. Over 25 million people face acute hunger. Nearly 11 million have been displaced. And the death count is suspected to be as high as five times as high as in Gaza. But if you were to judge by how much international attention Sudan gets - either from the media, politicians, or humanitarian donors - you wouldn’t realise this is happening before the world's eyes.  Joining Media Storm this week is Sudanese activist and the man behind the social media platform Sudan Updates, Ameen Mekki. We are also joined by Sudanese refugee, public speaker, and charity worker Gaida Dirar, to discuss how British colonial history played a part in Sudan’s present-day difficulties - and why the war is as urgent to Western audiences as any other. Plus, your week's Media Storms: panic about a potential pub garden smoking ban, an extracted anecdote from Jess Phillips that apparently provided proof of a 'two-tier NHS', misleading claims about crime at Notting Hill Carnival, and the voices missing in Israel-Palestine coverage: though they may not be the voices you think.  Hosts: Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia) Music: Samfire (@soundofsamfire) Assistant Producer: Katie Grant Episode research: Camilla Tiana Support Media Storm on Patreon! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, hello listeners. Hello, hello listeners. I would like to start today's episode by reading out a text that Matilda sent me this week. What? It read, I just had fucking banter with Theresa May. I feel dirty. Oh, my. Explain yourself, Matilda.

You rat. I can't believe you put me in that position. It was literally my favourite text I received all year. Oh, I did have banter with Theresa May. Explain. It was toilet banter. Toilet panther is even worse I was at a wedding

It was an amazing wedding It was quite a posh wedding Theresa May was there No shit I learnt this while in the toilet My first trip to the day It was a long queue for the ladies And a guy popped his head in

On his way to the like You know cueless men's toilet And was like Oh So I turned around to first mind I'd be done Love it when men do that And it was Theresa May

We kept like Running into each other in the toilet So you had synced bladders with Theresa May. Yeah, we had synced bladders. But yeah, when Theresa May was Home Secretary, right, she bought in the hostile environment, like legislation. So she's literally your nemesis. Yeah, no, I used to practice in the mirror what I would say to her

if I met her back in like, what, 2013 was this? And when she was prime minister. But, you know, now she doesn't have any influence. it's actually, she's been way better as the backbencher than when she was in power. So, yeah, I turned around and I was just like, so, apparently the Chancellor's Office only has a urinal. Because, you know, that was in the news last week. Oh, yes. Like, what do you think?

She was like, yeah, it was the same intent downing street. Wow. Bragging. Yeah, bragging. And also, after a while, you know, we kept obviously running into each other in the loo. And there was a familiarity I didn't ask for. so I was like, hi, I'm Matilda. And she, of course, just said,

hi, Matilda. Didn't introduce herself because everyone knows who I am. She knows I know who she is. Well, speaking of Bladders, I do want to just thank listeners who all kindly wrote in with their UTI advice. Yes, we've got some tips in the DMs. D. Manos is the way to go.

I don't know what that is. I did come across it when I did the chronic UTI episode. And actually, I've had a lot of people pushed Di Mano's my way since we obviously talked about my UTI UTIs most weeks and yeah and the testimonies about it are incredible. Okay well thank you listeners

and that was Bladder Update and Matilda rubbing shoulders with the previous Prime Minister but let's take a look at what else is happening in the world the damning final report on the Grenfell disaster in which 72 people died has blamed governments, companies and fire service for failures leading to the tower block fire. Ukrainian authorities say at least 51 people have been killed by a Russian missile attack

on the Ukrainian city of Pultava. And the UK has suspended some arms sales to Israel, saying there is a clear risk the equipment could be used to commit serious violations of international law. But beyond the well-reported topics of the week, what media storms caught are I? Helena, want to start? Sure. Okay. The first media store I want to discuss made me laugh just because of the level of outrage over something that might or might not be true. Sounds like the clickbait media to me. Yep. Leat documents that were linked to the tobacco and vapes bill were apparently seen by the Sun newspaper and showed that Labor was to ban smoking from pub gardens. According to the sun

Ministers are plotting to drastically extend the indoor smoking ban to beer gardens and outside football stadiums this caused what I can only call panic No I won't lie

A few of my favourite party people message me in panic Yeah Is this true? I also read quite a few tweets accusing Keir Sturma of implementing a nanny state Which as a historian

is a term used in the past by capitalist politicians against socialist politicians. Didn't Nigel Farage have something to say? When does Nigel Farage not have anything to say? But yes, he said he would never go to the pub again if Outdoor Smoking was banned. Implement the policy. Implement it now. Implement it now.

Okay, but it's true. A lot of people on the right tweeted how disgusted they were by this potential policy, including Conservative MP Esther McVeigh, who has since been branded repugnant for using a poem about the Holocaust to criticise the smoking proposals. What? Yes. The MP tweeted a section of Martin Niemuller's 1946 poem called First They Came on Social Media.

Oh. The poem, if you don't know it, is about the silence of some Germans in the face of Nazi crimes. And it includes the lines, then they came for the Jews. And I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. And you know, the poem ends. then they came for me and there was no one left to speak up for me

and Estimate Vey added at the end pertinent words re-starmer smoking ban pertinent words yep like first they came for my cigarettes and then they came

for my basic fundamental human rights I don't know I mean the Board of Deputies of British Jews called on Estimate Vey to apologise for the breathtakingly thoughtless comparison

she later insisted she was not equating banning smoking outside pubs with Nazi persecution of the Jews. God, imagine having to ever clarify that? I know. She also had to clarify that no offence was ever intended, but also added that she would not be bullied into removing the post on Twitter or X,

and as of today, it is still up. She is a true inspiration. Right. Though many Conservative MPs weren't as breathtakingly thoughtless as Esther McVeigh was, They did tweet or voice their disdain. But what's interesting is the Tobacco and Vapes bill

was originally a bill proposed by Rishi Sunak and the Conservative government. I was going to say that. Wasn't it the Conservatives that proposed making the sale of tobacco illegal to anyone born after 2009? Yes, exactly, 2009. So this was a bill, a policy that Labour inherited. The Tories were the ones originally speaking about creating. a smoke-free generation with new measures. I point this out just to show that there is like a little bit of hypocrisy

with the amount of outrage being shown. Right, which is not to say that there aren't legitimate concerns, for sure. Kirstarmer's potential plan has not been confirmed or denied, pointedly. And it has been largely welcomed by health campaigners who point out that smoking is the UK's biggest preventable killer. But it has also drawn criticism, I know, from the hospitality industry. industry, Michael Kill, CEO of the Nighttime Industries Association, said this ban would, quote, impose yet another regulatory burden on businesses already facing considerable challenges. Right. And these are the voices that should be heard. Health voices and hospitality voices. But unfortunately, they're being drowned out by hysteria of a nanny state, a Tory MP apparently comparing the band to the Holocaust, and Nigel Farage shouting about it outside of Westminster pub with a cigarette.

hanging out his mouth. And here's something that got lost in the media storm. Did you know that they have an outdoor smoking ban in Australia that has been in place for two decades? No way. Yeah, that's really interesting. And listeners can go and read about it, its effects on health and its effects on hospitality and then decide for themselves what they think about this potential policy without, you know,

being distracted by Nigel Thuraj threatening his pub boycott. Okay, I have got a media storm. Okay. Now, the state of the NHS has been making headlines forever, which made it pretty hard to persuade my husband to move from Germany to the UK to work in the NHS. It's like the opposite direction of how it normally works. His colleagues keep pointing out. I have to say on Monday, we were at Matilda's Flat working on Media Storm,

and her husband came home for a long day of working in the NHS, just like, traipsed in he looked like so sad and then he just looked at us and said the NHS is fucked and I was like oh my god he looked shell-shocked the honeymoon period is officially over I keep being like yeah but I'm worth it right and it's it's getting harder oh man well the long NHS waiting times at A&E also made headlines this week Ah, okay, so what were the headlines, that there's been a sharp rising people waiting over 12 hours in A&E, that long A&E weights could lead to more than 250 patients a week dying unnecessarily, that in August NHS waiting lists rose for a third consecutive month?

No, actually, the headline was that Jess Phillips must explain her two-tier NHS Garza claim. I'm sorry, what? Let me explain. Labour minister, Jess Phillips, was speaking at an event at a London theatre called an evening with Jess Phillips. This was on August 8th. Yet on August 29th, the Daily Mail ran a showbiz story about what the Labour MP said at the event. Jess Phillips apparently was recalling how she had been to an A&E in Birmingham

because of a scary incident where she was having trouble breathing. She said at one point that the A&E was over. And that she had, quote, genuinely seen better health facilities in war zones in developing countries around the world. Right. Okay. So is that what the Daily Mail is mad about? No. Funny, funny you ask. They report that later in the evening, she said she eventually reached her turn for treatment, but told the audience, I got through because of who I am, i.e. a prominent Birmingham MP. She then mentioned the doctor who treated her was Palestinian and she's quoted as saying he was sort of like, I like you,

you voted for a ceasefire. I got through quicker. Right. Okay, well, so for context, late last year, Jess Phillips was probably the most high-profile Labour MP to resign in order to back an S&P motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza in defiance of the party line and then she returned to the Labour front bench after the party's general election victory.

So, okay, so I imagine she was telling this anecdote to her audience to remind them of her commitment to a ceasefire in Gaza to remind people that Palestinians, you know, live and work among us. And I guess she's talking about the state of A&E. And it's funny that you use the word anecdote because this is pretty much as anecdotal, as an anecdote can be. And yet it's been used to fuel. these headlines. From G.B. News, Labor's Jess Phillips boasts she managed to skip

queue for NHS due to stance on Gaza. From the spectator, Jess Phillips must explain her two-tier NHS Gaza claim. From unheard, Jess Phillips' NHS Gaza claim should be investigated. Also in the article here, they say Jess Phillips pushed ahead of other patients. And from the Daily Express, Jess Phillips sparks furious backlash over claim she got quicker NHS care over Gaza vote. Now, obviously, if people are getting systemically favourable treatment for political views, that would be incredibly dark. If these outlets cared about whether or not the NHS was too tiered,

they would investigate this with factual integrity. But instead, the mail published it as a showbiz scoop, which has then been re-reported by other outlets as national news. This is, as I said, as anecdotal as an anecdote can be. Bear in mind, what Jess Phillips said at the theatre there's no transcript available to see it there's no recording available to watch it these quotes have come from a daily mail showbiz scoop

and a daily mail showbiz scoop alone this anecdote has then been extracted to provide evidence of a two-tier NHS and as we know from last week's episode two-tier is a term popularised politically by reform party politicians Nigel Farage's party a term that trended during the racist rise

and a term used by the right and far right as apparent evidence of prejudice against whatever demographic they're claiming to represent. Yeah, I mean, also, what struck me, that headline you read out from The Express, Sparks Furious Backlash, what was it? Yeah, The Express, Jess Phillips, Sparks Furious Backlash over claim

she got quicker NHS care over Garza vote. Well, it's funny because the media extracting this and applying an anecdote with no evidence and no data to real life, is literally what is causing the backlash. Yeah. Like the backlash has been generated by the media and then reported on as if they didn't cause it.

Yes. You are so right. And the expresses there also saying she skipped the queue. It is reported that Jess Phillips said she waited until the front of the queue, yet GB News also wrote Skip's Q in capital letters. And again, if media outlets who reported on this story really were worried about a two-tier and H. they would do the research, gather data, investigate to see if it's actually happening

instead of creating instant outrage. And there is evidence to suggest that there is sort of two-tiered treatment of people based on implicit biases to do with race, to do with class. And those are not being reported. None of these outlets would ever report on that. Sorry, I've actually just done a quick Google on this and it looks like Downing Street is involved now. No.

Oh my God, this is giving me when Rishi Sunak commented on students apparently identifying as a cat. Yes, it is exactly that. That's a season two episode on self-ID if people haven't listened to that, scroll back. That was mad. But yeah, according to this telegraph headline, NHS must treat all patients equally,

insist number 10, after Jess Phillips claims. I'll just read a little bit, asked about the case, and specifically whether Sir Ke Estama would approve of medical staff triaging patients, according to their political views, The Prime Minister's official spokesperson said the NHS should treat everyone the same regardless of who they are. Well, thank goodness. That's cleared up.

Yep. Okay, I actually have a slight bit of praise for the mainstream media. Ooh, hit me. So this Saturday, Tommy Robinson, the prominent far right and anti-Islamic activist, is planning a rally in Glasgow. go. He described it as a peaceful protest to share our distrust and fear of the future. Okay. So what does this rally actually fall? Yeah, good question. Okay, so Tommy Robinson has called it a pro-UK rally in a post which also stated the British R Rising. Oh, whoa. The British Arising is just poorly veiled, colonial racism. Yeah. And the name pro-UK, I mean, that's just

basically framing it so that anyone who disagrees with him, oh, it's not because he's disgustingly racist, but because we are anti-UK. Right. So what I was worried about when I first saw that this was happening was that news outlets would report on the rally as a pro-UK rally, i.e. they might write pro-UK rally to take place this weekend without questioning that labelling or that language. Yeah. Have they not done that?

Not as far as I've seen. I'm happy to report that most of the articles have put pro-UK in inverted commas, such as the independent, the BBC and local Scottish papers like The Herald. And some outlets, such as The Guardian, have literally just straight up called it an anti-immigrant rally and the words pro-UK are just nowhere to be seen. And it seems like such a small point, but there's a real difference that can be made when the media reports responsibly on the far right and their motives. It makes such a difference to say, this far-right leader has described his

rally as pro-UK rather than using the language that the far right group has dictated themselves as a propaganda tool right when we use the language that they use to describe themselves we fall into that trap and as this rally draws nearer I urge media storm listeners to see not only if the media uses the language of the far right but in what way they use it okay I've got another story Now, you shocked me last week with a story about policing at Notting Hill Carnival, and now I'm going to shock you right back with another story about policing at Notting Hill Carnival that has emerged this week. More shocking than one ex-police officer setting the narrative for the whole of policing and crime at Carnival?

Possibly. I mean, certainly it's along the same vein. Okay, so I'm sure you and most of our listeners have heard about two deaths that occurred at Notting Hill Carnival. Yeah, I've heard this. One was a mother and another a chef. Yes, exactly. Cher Maximum, who was 32, was stabbed in front of her daughter as she tried to save a man from being attacked. Mussi Imnetu, a chef who was 41, was found unconscious with a head injury. Both of these are super tragic and our hearts go out to their friends and their family. The headlines that surrounded the event sounded a little something like this.

mother and top chef die in Notting Hill Carnival double tragedy. Mother and Chef die days after Notting Hill Carnival attacks. Two die after attacks at deadliest Notting Hill Carnival in more than 20 years. But what if I told you that Missy Imnetu's death had nothing to do in Notting Hill Carnival? I actually don't know that I'd believe you based on the coverage I've seen. Right. I want to read you the first line of an article. on the evening standard about the two deaths.

A mother and a top chef have died in hospital within a day of each other after falling victim to separate violent attacks during Notting Hill Carnival, Police Say. And I want to focus on that police say bit. So the question we have to ask is, are the police falsely suggesting the fatal attack on the chef

took place at Notting Hill Carnival? I mean, if it didn't, then someone is. Well, let's look at the facts. Mercy was found unconscious with a head injury outside the Dr. Power restaurant in Queensway at about 11.20pm on Monday the 26th of August and he died in hospital on Friday the 30th afternoon. Queensway.

Queensway lies outside of the Notting Hill Carnival Catchment area and the attack took place hours after the event had concluded. The parade on Monday usually finishes at around 8.30pm. Yet the Met tweeted saying that the incident that led to Mussie's death had taken place at the carnival. It's getting looser and looser. And we're not the only people that think so. The reporter Nadine White from the Independent

approached the Met about the statement. According to the Independent, the force then rode back on its previous statement and clarified that the attack had taken place outside of the carnival. They said the attack happened in the street outside the footprint of Carnival. However, investigating officers understand both victims, Tim and the alleged suspect had attended the restaurant,

which had carnival-related activities taking place. Oh, my God. That is so deliberate. Like, that story was just seized on. Oh, man. For reference, arrest rates at Notting Hill Carnival have been very similar to those at music festivals such as Glastonbury,

when the huge-sized crowds are taken into account. And we can't forget that the right have seized upon a crowd. rhyme at Notting Hill Carnival narrative for years. These deaths of Cher and Mussie have even led some politicians and commentators to call for its complete cancellation. So what does it mean that Missy's death didn't happen at Carnival? Exactly. The telegraph even led with the headline that I read out moments ago

to die after attacks at deadliest Notting Hill Carnival in more than 20 years. And they stated it was the highest number of fatalities at the carnival since 2000. when two men were murdered. Well, if Mercy wasn't murdered at Carnival, then that's false information. But the narratives are out there now and some would say the damage is done. The damage is done.

Finally, to wrap up our media storm news roundup, one of the biggest stories this week comes from the Middle East. Tens of thousands of people rallied across Israel after the bodies of six hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip were recovered by soldiers. An Israeli military spokesperson said all six hostages were, quote, brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them.

However, much of the anger is pointed towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government for failing to agree are hostages for peace deal with Hamas. The Israeli leader has been repeatedly accused of stalling on a ceasefire deal for his own political gain. After the news of the deaths of the six hostages, protesters descended on Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities, accusing their government of not doing enough to ensure the safe return of the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza. At the same time, Israel's biggest trade union called for a nationwide general strike. They said hundreds of thousands of people joined the strike it called to put pressure on the government to agree a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal.

Government offices were closed as well as schools and many private businesses. Israel's international airport shut down for two hours. The strike ended with a court order for workers to go back to their jobs. This is a signal of huge public outcry. This is the largest protest held since the start of Israel's war in Gaza in October. And it's signalled to us something that we've realised has been missing from the media reports. the voices of ordinary Israelis. Now, the media's, and I mean like the BBC's reliance on Israeli state representatives

as sources, has meant we haven't heard these voices. You probably notice when we hear discussions, you know, we'll hear from an Israeli state representative, but because the BBC and other outlets won't engage with Hamas for obvious reasons, we then get to hear from Palestinian civilians, doctors. we never hear from Israeli civilians. That voice is really amiss. And so we as listeners are being given an impression of the Israeli people and how they feel from the top,

from state representatives. We are allowing them to form our opinions of Israelis. But if these protests show us anything, they show that maybe these aren't their opinions. This protest and these strikes signaled that many Israelis support a ceasefire. Many Israelis have been reporting on and speaking out about the displacement of Palestinian people for decades, and many Israelis disagree with Netanyahu and his government. So it's time we hear from them. We rounded up voices of Israeli soldiers, protesters and activists.

It was quite hard. It's rare to hear from soldiers who've served on the ground. But one Israeli soldier told Channel 4 news that what he witnessed turned him against Netanyahu's war. A lot of them don't draw the line between what we call militants or terrorists and what we would call civilians. Then you start asking yourself, are all of those strikes, air strikes, necessary?

Or are we just having a light hand on the trigger here? And then it starts, and once it starts, it never stops. A member of the Israeli organization standing together, which works for a society that chooses peace, justice, and independence for Israelis and Palestinians, protected aid trucks from Israeli protesters. We are here from the humanitarian aid by standing together. We came to make sure that all the trucks with the supply to Gaza

will get to the final destination. An Israeli citizen talks about how difficult it is to vocalize any opposition to the war in Gaza without being treated like a traitor. As many people here in Israel see me as a traitor, it's like we live in a completely different country. A person who supports the war can go to work and say that he wants to kill the people of Gaza

and can say racial slurs against Palestinians. Freely, pretty much. But I can't stand with a sign against the war And Israeli protesters from this week have their say. Please make a deal for the people who can still come back and hug their families. I think we have a criminal government, criminal government who lets the hostages be murdered only for the sake of the coalition and we have a prime minister who doesn't think of the good of a country but only of his own good.

Now, naturally, the devastation in Gaza and now the West Bank has got a lot of media attention. It may not always be the best attention and we must continue to keep eyes on Gaza and elevate Palestinian voices and all unheard voices in this ongoing crisis. But today, we want to turn our gaze south, encouraged to do so by some listeners who want to know why they're mainstream news doesn't. Because far away from Gaza and Ukraine, another terrible war is raging, though much less familiar to Westerners. In an East African country, three times the size of Ukraine and Gaza put together. Sudan. Sudan is the world's biggest humanitarian crisis. But if you were to judge by how much international attention it gets, either from the media, politicians, or humanitarian donors,

you wouldn't realize. Be honest, listeners, what do you know about Sudan? This week, you may have seen headlines that rapper Macklemore is boycotting Dubai for the UAE's involvement in the conflict. But you probably didn't read that torrential rains recently decimated 20 villages and the main water source for the de facto capital city,

or that the war reached its 500th day. So here's a little background. The current travels in Sudan started last April when rival generals of the armed forces who had ousted ex-president Omar al-Bashir in a 2019 coup d'état turned against one another. But what started as a conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces, or SAF or SAF, who are led by General Al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, who are led by a general known as Hymetti

has exploded into bloody chaos with countless militias, ethnic massacres and foreign proxy self-interest. Guns and explosives, combined with the effects of climate change, have set the country on fire, wiping out farmland and crops and contributing to a famine

that is projected in the most dire readings to kill 10,000 people every day. And in the shadow of this war and famine, According to the few organizations watching closely, a genocide is taking place. The Masalit people, an ethnic African group, are being slaughtered by the RSF and buried in secret mass graves. If you see it reported in our media at all, the token headline given to Sudan is the forgotten crisis, a name given by the very media that's forgotten it. We know the war in Sudan has been forgotten. Today, we want to work out why.

Global food monitors say that famine's already taken hold in parts of northern Darfur amidst the 16 months of devastating battling. Become one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. So why is it so difficult for aid to make it? The number of people who are impacted here is a... The UK says these attacks bear all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing. Welcome to MediaStorm, the news podcast that starts with the people who are normally asked last. I'm Matilda Malinson and I'm Helena Wadia.

This week's Media Storm. Forgotten Crisis. Why is no one talking about Sudan? Welcome to the Media Storm Studio where we are lucky to be joined by two very special guests. Our first guest is a Sudanese activist and the man behind the social media platform, Sudan updates. His determined work to shine a spotlight on his homeland has landed him features in Forbes, The Justice Gap and Newsline. He's currently studying public international law, focusing on racial injustice, inequality, international law and human rights, especially in Africa and the Middle East. Welcome to the studio, Amin Mecki.

Hi guys. Thank you for having me. Our second guest is a Sudanese refugee and public speaker who is passionate about educating people about asylum seekers and campaigning for multicultural communities. She has worked as a nurse on the front lines in refugee camps. Driving in the UK in 2015 divides her time between the British Refugee Council, UNHCR, the Global Refugee Steering Group, City of Sanctuary and local refugee organisations. So determined is she to make life better for people coming to the country in similar circumstances. We're so very happy to have you join us, Gayda Dira. Thank you for having me and looking forward for our conversation today.

The scale of devastation in Sudan can't be overstated. It can barely be conveyed. but we will try. Over 25 million people, more than half of the country's population, face acute hunger. People are being forced to eat grass to survive. Nearly 11 million people have been displaced. That's more than 2 million families homeless. And somewhere, between 15 and 150,000 people have been slaughtered. But official death tolls come from hospital counts,

and with four out of five of every hospital forced shut by the conflict, We can only imagine what gross underestimates these are. The death toll is suspected to be as high as five times as high as in Gaza. It's also hard to understate how little global attention this has gotten. We've compared UK government press releases of 2024. 470 press releases mentioned Ukraine. Just 60 mentioned Sudan. Over the past 12 months, the New York Times has run almost 10 times.

as many articles mentioned in Gaza as those featuring Sudan and more than 13 times as many mentioning Ukraine. To be clear, there should be no competition where human suffering is concerned and there are many factors complicating these comparisons, which we'll get into, but the unfortunate reality of diplomatic and humanitarian relief is that crises are often left to compete. Those that get no media get no help. And the media itself has called Sudan the forgotten crisis. This is one of the most common headlines about the war that you'll find. And the first thing to say is we don't love the term forgotten here. It implies the lack of attention is accidental. The fact Sudan's war is underreported is the result of deliberate actions, not least by the warring parties who suppress

civilian and journalist voices. We'd love to hear from, I mean, a bit about censorship in Sudan or any logistical reasons why it might be difficult for foreign journalists to cover this war. Yeah, definitely. A huge part of the reason why we're not seeing the footage of the horrors that are happening in Sudan is because of the fact that journalists are being targeted by both sides in Sudan to hide the massive scale of suffering and the human rights violations that are happening

on the ground. We've seen indiscriminate bombings from the Sudanese armed forces. We've seen the looting of homes, kidnapping of people by the RSF, as well as, you know, obviously the horrific ethnic cleansing in Darfur. Yeah, so it's been really difficult for journalists and foreign journalists, especially to be in Sudan. And I think that obviously plays a huge part in us not being very present within the global media. Yeah, I will totally agree. I mean, it's what's going on. It's trying to hide the war crime. They commit in Sudan.

They all shut down the Wi-Fi. So it's just like even the people who are trying to send videos to the relative abroad, there is no way. We can't forget, you know, that Sudanese internet access is only about 20 to 30 percent. And even that is often shut down. And that is a war tactic in and of itself. But the term forgotten crisis also implies. that all we need to do is remember Sudan, but many people in Europe don't know the first thing about it,

which is actually strange when you think about it because British and Sudanese histories have been closely intertwined. For this reason, we might say the lack of Western media coverage is less about forgetfulness and more about ignorance. So maybe we should be calling Sudan the ignored crisis. I mean, can you take us through Sudan and Britain's share, history, including any role British colonial history may have played in Sudan's present-day difficulties. Yeah, definitely. I'm not sure how many of your viewers kind of know the relationship

between the two, but very briefly. So Britain was one of Sudan's colonial rulers along with Egypt. And I think, as with a lot of conflicts and issues in Africa and the global south in general, there is definitely a connection with colonialism. When we look at the way that the British has set up the Sudanese state, you can draw the clear connections between what's happened then and what's happening now. One of the tactics of the British colonizers at the time was focusing the power and development of Sudan in the center. And it's something that we're dealing with today. It's been a legacy of colonialism with margins of the country away from the center, feeling that they have been marginalized and underdeveloped, which is definitely true. This has been a reoccurring theme

throughout Sudan's history where people on the margins feel ignored by the central government. I think state violence and military violence is also a legacy of colonialism. So the Sudan Armed Forces was formed from the Sudanese defense forces, which were set up by the British foreign dependents to pacify the rest of Sudan. You know, they went south Sudan and other areas of Sudan that weren't submitting to British colonial rule, and they put down those rebellions and horrific things, basically. usual colonial legacies of violence and whatnot. You have a power structure that revolves around the center of Sudan. And specifically, it obviously emboldens the state to carry out actions of

state violence and military coups. Sudan is actually the country with the second most military coups in the world. Our history is full of military rule and military violence. There's been three democratic periods in Sudan that I've been overthrown by military rule. And at the end of the day, people don't draw the clear connection here. This is that legacy with colonialism. Thank you. That was really comprehensive. Gader, do you have anything to add? Yes, I want to add one thing on the colonialism legacy.

The Sudanese people think the UK is their second homeland. That's why you will see a lot of asylum seekers. They cross and see, crossing countries, and they came here seeking for safety because there is the idea of the Great Britain, the other safe country, they know, which is now affecting directly what is going on. I think that a lot of people in the Western world assume this war is underreported because it's not relevant to us. Or maybe they assume it's not relevant to us because it's underreported. When it comes to Gaza and Ukraine, for example, the UK, Europe, the USA have clear stakes because

they literally supply arms to one side. And that's not the case in Sudan. Nevertheless, there are a lot of reasons why what's happening in Sudan is of huge geopolitical relevance. The economist actually described it as a geopolitical time bomb. The UAE arms RSF killers. Iran and Egypt armed the SAF. Russia has played both sides with the help of Wagner Merceries, which in turn has drawn in Ukraine. China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar are all also competing for influence. And this is all on the doorstep of the Suez Canal, one of the most relevant and fragile arteries of global trade. But the thing is, should we only care about wars that affect us? Gader, how do you feel about that? What I'm going to say about that, there is no war not connecting to other war. There is

no crisis, doesn't connect to other crises. People move to different countries. If this country is a crisis will affect all the neighbour countries and this neighbour's countries is connected to more countries. The people think that is far, far away from us. But we cannot spread things, everywhere affecting the, I will say, the European Union or the UK government, because the reality of the migration, which is everywhere being talking about, is come from this country, and they're moving on to Europe because it's a safe area in the world. These communities, they don't understand why these people are moving on here. They think it's all about economic movement, and it's all about safety.

Even now with the, I think, this year, 70 or 71 election going around the world, is all affected by this reality of this war in this country. So everything being affected, every election been affected, every political decision being affected. Yeah, just to talk a bit more about, you know, the UK's complicity in the war in Sudan, I'm not sure how many of your viewers know how the UK recently has been trying to block the investigation into the UAE's involvement in Sudan. This has been a reoccurring motif in the war that a lot of us outside of Sudan are complicit in the war.

There's been a global awakening with, you know, obviously what's going on in Palestine and other countries. And I think that Sudan hasn't been afforded the same kind of attention. But at a closer inspection, we can find that there's so much involvement of international powers. One of the first things that I always talk about is the fact that Hametti and Burhan, who are the leaders of the SAF and the RSF, were recognized and legitimized by the UK. In 2019, when protesters came out on the streets

and called for an end of timbilitary rule, they were ignored by international powers and pressured to accept a deal where the civilians would have to share power with these military generals. Since day one, these military generals have been working to undo the work of the revolution. They've been working to cement control over Sudan

to exploit its resources. Obviously, you talked about the Red Sea, but something else that the international community benefits from is Sudan's gold. Sudan is one of the largest producers of gold. There are estimates that say that 50, 70% of Sudan's gold is smuggled outside of Sudan illegally, where they then enter the global market. So there's a lot of interconnection, and we live in a globalized world. Funnily enough, actually, because I know a lot of people are really aware

about British involvement specifically with weapons manufacturing systems, involvement in Palestine, while we now know that these are some of the same weapons that are being used by the RSF in Sudan through the UAE. The same way that the UK provides arms to places like, you know, Israel and whatnot, they are also, you know, benefiting through providing arms to the UAE, which of course we now know is funneling those arms to groups like the RSF. This also ties into why we're not seeing as much as we should be seeing about Sudan, because the world stands to benefit from exploiting Sudan. Sudan is not a poor country, Sudan is exploited. There's a lot of international involvement, stifling, I guess, media attention and information

getting out to the world. And this is exactly why, because everyone stands to benefit. Some incredible points there about interconnectedness and why this war does affect us. But, you know, even if it didn't affect their countries, foreign leaders have a role to play in firstly upholding international laws that we all wrote and signed up for they are the only ones in a position to hold Sudan's warring leaders to account for example with sanctions or legal action

and to pressure them to negotiate for peace but they're not doing that and there's so little pressure on war criminals in Sudan to do anything other than exactly what they want if this is because it doesn't affect people in Western countries then I'm not really clear on what we stand for And also what the British public doesn't realize is that the war in Sudan is affecting us through migration flows. Given how hot a topic asylum is in Western countries, it's quite baffling that we cannot see the relevance of the war in Sudan at home.

The reason we think is that media and politicians deliberately conceal this, they paint a one-sided picture of, quote, illegal immigration. that implies people are coming to the UK to the West to Europe to reap the benefits and not because they have something to flee. So to paint a clearer picture for listeners, Sudan now has the grim honour of being the world's largest child displacement crisis. In the last few months alone, two million people fled the country. While it's important to stress that the vast majority of refugees remain homeless in Sudan or are in neighbouring countries

which shoulder most of the burden, A high proportion of asylum seekers coming to the UK via the channel who we read about all the time in the news are coming from Sudan, which we read about never in the news. At present, 60% of people in camps in Calais waiting to cross the channel come from Sudan. And we can expect this to rise as the situation in Sudan worsens. Gader, you've said yourself that this gives people the impression that everyone coming at economic migrants. So what happens when the press fails to explain to people the push factors driving asylum migration? And how does it affect people like you who have come here for asylum? Before I answer the question, I want to say that the numbers is much, much bigger than that

because there is a lot of people being spent in Sahara between Sudan and Libya and all just trying to cross to safety. And again, there is a knowing number in the Mediterranean Sea. the people who already lost their life trying to get to safety. So to answer that question about how the media influence the public and how that affecting what is going on. So imagine yourself, you are just victim moving off from country to country. You are not part of any situation and you're just trying to flee to safe yourself. So crossing that, losing your life, losing your relative, losing the closest people to you.

And again, when they reach here, they find this hate from the community around you and the state of people like taking their hands. to use this number of people seeking safety in political reasons, that is, again, I will say, war crime. You are hurting this community and not just this community who come through this, because the public, when they see in the street any foreign, they don't think if he's a refugee or his asylum seeker or his Norman migrant, they see just foreign. So you divide in your community, you're dividing the humanity on them. You lay that to your political gain. It is unhuman, from my opinion.

The other thing I will say, as media presenter or I will say journalist, you choose to provide this truth and that is your job and your role to provide this truth to your community so they can't take the right decision in the Democratic Act because this is a democratic country. So you play with this card to ruin the democratic in your country. So that's how you will see it from my opinion. By now we've certainly established that the crisis incident. is directly relevant for people here in the UK. So, I mean, what does that therefore tell us

that the crisis in Sudan is still so underreported? I'm probably going to use the word that the media hate using. Surely this has got to do with racism. Yeah, to put it simply, as many people have articulated before me, I think the problem comes down to implicit biases in racism. People have a hard time believing that people in Africa deserve to live in peace and deserve to live in anything that's not war, poverty, hunger. People think that this is just another normal day in Africa.

And it all comes down to these stereotypes and tropes that African countries, they can't rule themselves, this is where war is normal, poverty, all these things, which again, people forget are largely legacies of colonialism. You know, the exploitation, the extraction, the violence of colonialism, I don't think people think about that deeply as they should. it's insane to me, honestly. So I think the media has a huge part in playing a role that should inform people about the truth of what's happening in the world

and it should make people care. It goes back to, you know, people's anti-blackness and implicit biases, which the media has a duty to combat, I think. And that's a part of the conflict as well. I mean, something that we haven't really said is one of the things happening and not being reported on is the ethnic massacre of the Masalit people by the RSF.

These are historical ethnic tensions between the, you know, mostly Arab RSF and ethnically African Masalit people. Ethnic tensions that were hugely inflamed under British colonial rule, which elevated, you know, ethnic Arabs over darker-skinned Africans. And it feels relevant that it is the genocide

and it has been called a genocide by genocide watch. Of the Masalit people is being completely ignored by the rest of the world. world? Yeah, a lot of the racism and the violence going on in Sudan itself is obviously a legacy of colonialism and it's a legacy of the slave trade as well, the Arab slave trade. This racist idea that there are people that are above, you know, we call them Arab or Arabis backgrounds are better than African, non-Arab populations. A lot of the RSF fighters, they inherently believe that they have this right to kill, enslave, rape, sexually assault, these people because of their ethnic

origin. We've talked about the reasons that this crisis is so underreported. I think we also want to inform listeners quickly of the consequences of that underreporting. Helena talked a bit about international diplomatic efforts. Another major consequence is underfunding of humanitarian relief. Medicines Saint Frontier described Sudan as a humanitarian desert, where MSF finds itself almost alone in delivering humanitarian medical assistance. Sudan is one of the most underfunded crises in the world, according to research by the Norwegian Refugee Council, which found that half of the least funded crises in the world were in Africa.

Half of all global funding was going to five crises, Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan and Palestine. There's a clear connection between the amount of media coverage and the amount of aid. Can you describe the impact that this has had in Sudan, Amin, as you've seen and reported it. Definitely. First and foremost, it's important to highlight the international community's complete abandoning of the Sudanese people. And that's left many people like myself and many

average people in the diaspora to kind of pick up the work that the international community is meant to be doing. People in Sudan on the ground themselves are creating community kitchens. They're feeding each other. They're taking care of each other. Honestly, it's so inspiring to see. But obviously, this is kind of the result of, uh, of us being ignored by the world. Sudan is on the way to becoming another failed state. You know, this obviously has global implications. We know that failed states are hotbeds for terrorist groups to form

and mass suffering and just horrific things. You know, we need the international community to start actually meaningfully engaging with Sudan and start pressuring both sides to stop the fighting. Keda, we learned in an earlier media storm episode that when aid is cut, women and girls' services are the first thing to go. And this is, despite war and famine, disproportionately impacting them in the first place. Can you tell us about the particular impact of international neglect on women and girls in Sudan?

Thank you for bringing this up because women and girls, they are the most vulnerable when the war crime start. Sudanese women voices met up in what is going on in Sudan. A lot of crime being committed, agnes these girls who have been activists during this revolution and they've been raped, they've been tortured and they've been prisoner or killed. The other side of it that the women and girls who come from like a small minority or from villages or from like different areas in Sudan, they don't get enough aid, they don't get enough like medical attention. They don't get enough education. They need to help their family besides also they need to feed their children.

need to take care of the family. So if you don't have resources, you are the first to be breakdowned. And again, whenever the war break in every city or village, there it will be like rape happening, there it will be like kidnapping happening. And always the people who flee their houses, the people who spend their life, like in Sahara trying to skip, a lot of people died. Most of the numbers are women and children. The sadness about it, there is no attention. Even with the United Nations crying for help, crying for aid to provide to Sudanese families and Sudanese displaced women and children. Like, I cannot even tell how many people they're desperate for help and they've been forgetting and ignored. Always the Worldwide Community Act with the influence of the media.

We need that covering of media to bring more humanitarian aid to women of Sudan. And we need to protect this woman. and we need to protect the continuity of our communities, I will say. That's all we have time for today. Listeners can subscribe to our Patreon for additional content from this episode. Follow the link in the show notes and help support our work. For just £3 a month, you can make a massive difference, including by enabling us to double those funds from other donors.

Gader and Amin, you've both been. amazing. Thank you so much for your time. Geda, is there anywhere or any way that listeners can support you and your work? Yeah, for now I'm working with colleagues. We work in a non-governmental organization to provide some council to the government to support Sudan problem, but also in our personal side of it, we also come together to create a group of Sudanese. We're trying to collect funds to support people in Sudan and to support women and girls' communities. and you can find me in Facebook or in Lincoln or X, Instagram everywhere. Thank you.

Now, while the crisis incident, and urgently needs far more attention, there has been some brilliant reporting in major news outlets that we appreciate and recommend, notably from The New Humanitarian and The Economist, those are on my radar. Amin, you work to keep this coverage up. Can you tell listeners where they can follow your work

and any other resources you recommend, or ways they can get involved. So there are a lot of resources that focus on Sudan, BS on Blast, on Twitter, and Instagram as well. There's my page, Sudan.com, the updates. There is also journalists like Yusra al-Baghir, who sometimes reports from underground, and also on McDad Heson, who is actually currently on the ground right now in Sudan. And there's also, of course, the hashtag, keep eyes on Sudan, which we have been using to kind of keep eyes on Sudan. And people can also donate to organizations such as the Sudan Solidarity Collective, which are raising awareness, raising funds for the emergency response rooms, which were formed from the resistance committees of the revolution.

And they are currently carrying out all the humanitarian work that is necessary for the people on the ground in Sudan with the community kitchens and whatnot. And there's also the Sydney's America and Physicians Association. We're doing health care in Sudan. Thank you for listening. Follow MediaStorm wherever you get your podcast so that you can get access to new episodes as soon as they drop. If you like what you hear,

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Episode research is by Camilla Tiana and Katie Grant is our assistant producer. You can follow us on social media at Matilda Mal at Helena Wadia and follow the show by at Media StormPod Listen and hit follow on Spotify