FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 08/14/24
Contact:
Assefash Makonnen, Communications Manager
646- 629-7131
AS SUDAN APPROACHES 2 YEARS OF WAR, NGOS ARE URGING THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO CREATE HUMANITARIAN PATHWAYS
Seventy-three organizations delivered a letter urging the Administration to use their power to provide humanitarian protection given conditions in Sudan.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—In a letter delivered Tuesday, August 13th, 2024, 73 national and local organizations requested that the Biden Administration use their authority to create a designated humanitarian parole program and expand access to resettlement for the people of Sudan. The letter, led by African Communities Together (ACT), illustrates the ongoing crisis in Sudan and the opportunity the Administration has to provide relief for individuals stuck in dangerous conditions.
The civil war in Sudan has entered its second year of the deadly power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that has killed almost 15,000 and displaced more than 8.2 million. Individuals in Sudan are facing food insecurity, impacts of climate change, and violence that is only expected to increase and are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. A humanitarian parole program for Sudan would allow Americans to sponsor Sudanese fleeing the war to temporarily enter the US and escape the violence and the resulting humanitarian catastrophe.
Humanitarian parole is a tool used to protect individuals from “targeted harm or addressing urgent humanitarian crises.” The Secretary of Homeland Security has the discretion to parole any noncitizen applying for admission for temporary urgent humanitarian reasons. Historically, the U.S. has created humanitarian parole programs in response to humanitarian crises, including, most recently for those fleeing war in Ukraine. Over 170,000 Ukrainian lives have been saved as a result of that program. The letter notes that Black-majority countries often are left without equitable pathways and protection and that a humanitarian parole program for Sudan will “set an important precedent for the equitable use of the Administration’s parole authority.”
In addition to humanitarian parole, the group calls for an increase to the refugee admissions number for the coming fiscal year and priority access to resettlement for refugees from Sudan. The letter cites that the U.S. has admitted less than 3,000 Sudanese as of April 2024, despite “more than 2 million Sudanese have fled to neighboring countries. Chad has received the largest number of people (571,815), followed by Egypt (500,000), South Sudan (135,085), Ethiopia (33,389) and the Central African Republic (23,286).”
In addition to the letter, advocates are collecting petition signatures from the general public, calling for humanitarian parole.
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About African Communities Together
African Communities Together is an organization of African immigrants fighting for civil rights, opportunity, and a better life for African families in the U.S. and worldwide. ACT connects African immigrants to critical services, helps Africans develop as leaders, and organizes African immigrant communities on the issues that matter.
Twitter/Instagram: @AfricansUS
Facebook: facebook.com/AfricansUS
Website: www.africans.us