ALAA Hamza is living with the threat of being deported to Sudan, but she is determined to continue her political campaign against the current president who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court on multiple counts of genocide and war crimes.
The 22-year-old is so appalled at what is happening to peaceful protesters in Sudan that she is organising a demonstration in Glasgow today to raise awareness, as well as to show solidarity to the family and friends of those who have been killed and injured.
There will also be a demonstration on Tuesday in front of the Scottish Parliament, when a letter will be handed in to MPs outlining how the Sudanese Government is using weapons against its people.
Human Rights Watch say at least 40 people have been killed in the protests and have accused security forces of using live ammunition and excessive force against the demonstrators, as well as arbitrary detentions.
Emergency laws and curfews have been imposed on cities throughout the country and hundreds of people have been arrested since the protests began on December 19 – initially over rocketing inflation and shortages, but which have escalated to calls for President Omar al-Bashir to stand down.
Omar al-Bashir, president of Sudan and head of the National Congress Party
“I have a lot of friends on Facebook who are posting really bad footage of people getting beaten up and kids getting shot in the head. Deliberately,” said Hamza. “A lot of people have been killed or injured but the media are not talking about it much.”
Hamza said that after 30 years of dictatorship the Sudanese people had had enough.
“The government is corrupt and there is no freedom of speech,” she said. “Sudan is very rich with gold and petrol but the resources have been used badly. The people in power are taking the income for themselves instead of improving Sudan.
“People are starving because things are so expensive – a piece of bread costs £3, and I have a friend who had to queue three days for petrol even though Sudan is rich in oil.”
She said that graduates in medicine and law were not allowed to enter their professions unless they were members of the Islamic Movement, which held all the positions of power and was racist against the African tribes in Sudan.
“The president has ruined the country,” she said. “The only reason he became president is because he is from the Islamic Movement, but he is uneducated and has promoted others from the Movement to positions of power who also have no idea how to run a country.”
Born and brought up in Qatar, where her political activist father fled with his family from Sudan, Hamza came to the UK in 2014 as a student and then claimed asylum after a split from her family.
She lived first in London but found it unwelcoming and moved to Glasgow in 2017.
“Here there is more awareness of asylum seekers, and Glasgow has had amazing campaigns supporting them,” she said.
Her own asylum plea was initially refused, with the UK Government saying she had to go back to Sudan even though she has never lived there.
“I would be in danger because I am politically active and as a single woman I am also in danger of FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) which is carried out on 90% of Sudanese women,” Hamza pointed out.
“I am going to put in a fresh application for asylum, but I am going to keep trying to raise awareness of what is going on there, as it is a very bad situation.”
Tomorrow’s demonstration is at Glasgow Autonomous Space in Kilbirnie Street from 12 noon until 3pm.
Hamza is also asking people to sign a petition calling on the UK Government “to condemn in the strongest terms the Sudanese regime’s use of lethal force, including live ammunition, against the pro-democracy movement in Sudan.”
The petition can be found online at https://bit.ly/2M7sqFP
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