Danica Damplo, a policy manager at the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, met with Ramapo students and faculty over Zoom on Tuesday to discuss the current genocide in Sudan. She was joined by Dr. Jacob Ari Labendz, the director of Ramapo’s Holocaust and Genocide Center.
Labendz began the meeting by stating that conflicts in areas outside of North America and Europe do not get the media attention that they should and that he hoped talks like this would help, adding that the best thing one can do is to “be informed.”
Damplo presented over Zoom utilizing screen-share, discussing not only the facts of the genocide but also what led to it. She specializes in analyzing the risk factors and aspects characteristic of genocides.
Damplo talked about how Sudan has many structural risk factors that led to what the U.S. declared a genocide in January, 2025. Throughout the Zoom call, Damplo talked about how the nation was previously colonized by Britain until 1956, when the island nation left Sudan in shambles. Then, in 2011, South Sudan led an attack on the capitol, Khartoum and won, gaining independence from Sudan and forming its own nation.
There is also an imbalance of power between tribes, as conflicts arose between “non-Arab” and Arab people. These conflicts have been heightened by its neighbors, as many “have experienced their own tumultuous periods,” according to Damplo. Additionally, Sudan contains valuable natural resources, such as oil, gold, iron, marble and mica.
Damplo continued to describe Sudan’s history of war and imbalance, common risk factor’s of genocide. According to Damplo, this is the biggest risk factor for mass atrocities, especially with impunity, which is, unfortunately, the case in Sudan currently. This “impunity,” or lack of consequences, has given the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) the “green light for future crimes,” Damplo stated.
Mass atrocities were committed throughout the Darfur genocide, especially among civilians, but reports are stating that the current genocide is much worse, yet is getting significantly less media coverage. To make matters worse, the people being targeted are the survivors, and the family members of survivors, of the Darfur genocide merely 20 years ago.
Damplo reported that the armed forces are intentionally attacking civilians, even more so than before: “now, it’s more systematic… to completely remove all trace of non-Arab communities that had been living in those cities,” concurrent with the claim that this is a genocide.
While local communities want to help, the sheer peril of this situation makes it “difficult to protect their neighbors in this incredibly dangerous context,” and it is “increasingly becoming a war between communities,” according to Damplo, going as far as to call it a “forcible civil war.”
The RSF has been accused of genocide by the U.S., but it’s backed by the United Arab Emirates, while the SAF is backed by Saudi Arabia, which may pose issues. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is currently investigating the genocide, and the United Nations fact-finding missions are also keeping an eye on these atrocities. However, the U.S. froze humanitarian aid to Sudan earlier this year.
Towards the end of the presentation, an anonymous person asked what individuals could do to alleviate the suffering in Sudan. Damplo replied that people need to talk about it so that politicians know this is an issue Americans care about.
“Greater public awareness leads to more policy opportunities,” Damplo urged those who can, to donate to Doctors Without Borders, Mutual Aid for Sudan or the Madison Saint Frontier. She emphasized that while every little bit counts, what would be most beneficial is to talk about this issue and to convince Congress to get involved.
“This matters. Bills matter… [they] need resumption of U.S. aid to Sudan desperately, and for Sudan to remain a priority, not just to the U.S. government, but to other governments, as well,” Damplo said.
jamabil3@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of ramapo.edu
