Students Protest Against Economic Austerity in Sudan

Students are at the forefront of a wave of protests in Sudan.

For the past week, Sudanese students have been taking to the streets in Khartoum and around the country.

They are upset by the government’s plans to impose painful austerity measures.

Sudan’s economy has struggled since the secession of oil-rich South Sudan last year.

Anchor Marco Werman talks to the BBC’s James Copnall to get more details.

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Marco Werman: Students are the forefront of the wave of protest in a very different country, Sudan. For the past week, Sudanese students have been taken to the streets in Khartoum and around the country, today it was in Eastern Sudan near the border with Eritrea. The students are upset by the government’s plans to impose painful austerity measures, Sudan’s economy has struggled since the cessation of oil rigs South Sudan last year. The BBC’s James Copnall is on the line with us from Khartoum. James, describe the scene on the street of Khartoum this evening.

James Copnall : Well as I talk to you it’s rather certainly calm, certainly where I am. But over the last ten days or so, there’ve been a number of demonstrations; they started off with the students of the University of Khartoum, spread to other universities and then last Friday into a number of neighborhoods throughout Khartoum and Omdurman and several other cities. People essentially left the mosque after prayers and took to the streets often shouting slogans calling for freedom or against President Omar al-Bashir and those demonstrations have consistently been broken up with tear gas, riot police have used batons. Now these protests are on a relatively small scale as in each individual protest is maybe 100 or 200 people, but they are an awful lot of them and they’re in a lot of different places.

Werman: We just heard a story from Chile where students are protesting over cuts to grants, what are the demands of students in Khartoum?

Copnall : Well of course it depends who you talk to, but some of the people who first started protesting at the University of Khartoum, female students, one of the things they were unhappy about was the increased cost for their dormitory residences but I think there’s been a shift from a complaint about these austerity measures and the fact that fuel prices have gone up because fuel subsidy has been removed to a more direct challenge to President Bashir and his government.

Werman: So is this about Sudan’s economy or is it also about President Bashir and people’s dissatisfaction with him?

Copnall : Yeah, I think probably both, I mean the economy is in a real mess. South Sudan seceded last July following many years of war and South Sudan took with it 3 quarters of the daily oil production, that left Sudan with a huge hole in its budget and there are measures in place which should in theory protect the most vulnerable in society, but many people are concerned. I talked to one person, a man who earns on a good day about ten dollars a day as a bus driver and he has to support 18 people in his extended family since his father died a couple of months ago. But the problem is, with the rising prices, now transport has become more expensive and either people are refusing to pay this new price or they’re simply not taking that public transport anymore.

Werman: I mean, that story of the bus driver, it occurs to me that when things get really bad in Sudan, it must be really bad, I mean when austerity measures are taken, what’s life like for most people and how much worse could it get in Khartoum and the country?

Copnall : Well of course it really depends who you are, some people have money here and a lot of people have benefited from the oil boom over the last 12-13 years, but facing up to the prospect of not having so much money now that all the money has disappeared. And also, a lot of people haven’t benefited that much from the glory days and are now facing real desperate struggles as the economy tightens even further.

Werman: So James, it’s calm tonight in Khartoum, do you expect demonstrators will take to the street again? Where do you think the protests are headed?

Copnall : Activists are working towards 2 dates really, the first is this Friday, they’re encouraging people to the streets and they’re calling it “elbow-licking Friday” after a well-known phrase that both President Omar al-Bashir and some of his lieutenants have used in the past to describe opposition to their regime and anyone trying to contest President Bashir is licking his own elbow, an elbow-licker, essentially someone attempting to do the impossible. So the youth activists have ceased upon this label and said “hey we are elbow-lickers, we’re gonna do the impossible, we’re gonna kick you out of power” and then Saturday is the 23rd anniversary of President Bashir’s coup and so they’re also calling for big demonstrations on that day too and what would be interesting to see now is whether they’re able to achieve those goals in the face of what’s a very strong response from the Sudanese security forces.

Werman: Definitely, something to keep our eyes on . The BBC’s James Copnall in Khartoum thank you so much.

Copnall: Thank you!

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