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  |  Meeting on the subject ofSudan |  | Meeting on the subject o
 f SudanOffice of Donald Payne, Assemblyman, N.J., who was
 represented by Algene Sajevy, 13 February, 2012
 Our group: William Deng, , Andrew Eiva,
 Gouma Mahamat, Fakiri Jawish Taha, Ahmed Jedda, Al
 Sutton.
 Our group presented the following topics:
 1.Humanitarian aid:
 ! There is no question as to the severity of the humanitarian
 crisis (see Susan Rice quote in our letter to Congressmen.) To
 that end, we have been organizing delivery of medical supplies to
 Juba. We now face the blockade by al-Bashir of delivering this
 aid. We are hopeful that our people on the ground will implement
 transport of the medicines to the appropriate refugee camps. Lisa
 Grande, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, said,
 ““We have been packed since November. All we need is access to
 the area. Security clearance has constrained our response”.
 ! We will continue to urge the Administration to clear the way
 for humanitarian access.
 2.Response to the Sudan crisis by our Administration:
 ! Our letter of January 24, 2012 to the Congressmen who
 wrote President Obama on November 21, 2011 remains
 unanswered, as does their letter. We are concerned with the
 apparent lack of support of this Administration. We quote
 President Obama’s remarks on the Libyan crisis: “To brush aside
 America's responsibility as a leader and – more profoundly – our
 responsibilities to our fellow human beings under such
 circumstances would have been a betrayal of who we are. Some
 nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other
 countries. The United States of America is different. And as
 president, I refused to wait for the images of slaughter and mass
 graves before taking action." How does the crisis in the Sudan
 not meet that standard?
 ! We intend to follow up our letter, and seek remedial action.
 3.The matter of slavery:
 It has been proved that slavery has been a part of the
 terrorism perpetrated agains the indigenous African Blacks in the
 Sudan. One study has estimated 200,000 as the number of
 slaves taken since 1983. Although the Comprehensive Peace
 Agreement of 2005 (CPA) finally forbade slavery, it did not deal
 with the remaining men, women and children that remained in
 slavery, estimated as 40,000. Groups, such as Christian Solidarity
 International (CSI) are making efforts to free some of these
 slaves.
 We are closely following the work of the CSI.
 4. The participation of Afro-Americans in the plight of the
 marginalized Sudanese:
 For a number of reasons, the Afro-American community has
 not expressed alarm that the Arabization efforts in Sudan are
 directly attacking the identity of Black Africans, destroying their
 villages, culture, languages, and way of life. One would think this
 to be a serious concern to African-Americans and to all people.
 We are seeking to create an awareness through the
 leadership of educators and scholars. An upcoming symposium
 by Molefi Asante in Philadelphia will address this issue.
 ! Ms.Sajevy was attentive, and assured us that she would
 help us implement a meeting with the Congressional Black
 Caucus, to the extent that she was able
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