Why Are Sudanese Changing their Profile Pictures to a White Background with a Black Line?

Many social media users have changed their profile pictures to a picture with a white background with a thick horizontal black line in the middle.

This is part of a social media campaign to bring awareness to the ongoing fighting in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which left more than 500 people dead, more than 3,000 injured and caused more than 1 million people to flee Sudan. In addition, the campaign calls for the immediate end to the fighting in Sudan.

The black line demonstrates that the users are drawing line. ‘No more giving a pass to violent warlords and the foreign backers who support them. No more theft of Sudanese land, gold and precious resources. The people have had enough. Join the global movement to say #SudanIsNotForSale,’ stated the newly established Instagram account for the campaign @sudanisnotforsale.

In another post, the account states, ‘This is not an “internal conflict” or “Africa operating as usual”; it is two vicious warlords backed by foreign powers fighting for control with the Sudanese people caught in the middle. Sudanese folks need your awareness and action to fight back against these injustices caused injustices caused by warmongers and backed by foreign interests. Amplify Sudanese voices because #SudanIsNotForSale‘.

According to UNHCR, when the war began on 15 April 2023, at the beginning of June, the distribution of the newly displaced from the fighting in Khartoum included more than 169,000 to Egypt, more than 100,000 to Chad, more than 94,000 to South Sudan, more than 13,800 to Central African Republic (CAR), and more than 7,500 to Ethiopia.

For more information on the campaign, see the Instagram account @sudanisnotforsale.

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