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Sudanese refugee Raga Gibreel gives moving speech to help raise awareness on Holocaust Memorial Day in Deal

A Sudanese refugee who found sanctuary in the UK feels she can no longer return to her home country because of the risks.

Raga Gibreel, 45, spoke of the ongoing conflict in Sudan as part of her guest speech at a Holocaust Memorial Day event at Deal Town Hall on Monday.

Guest speaker Raga Gibreel
Guest speaker Raga Gibreel

Her family agreed for her to leave the northeast African country 11 years ago "to do something good".

Now, living in Folkestone, she is the founder of Green Kordofan, a charity which provides basic needs like food, health and shelter, as well as training and educating orphaned children in Sudan.

While she cannot travel to see the work for herself, she is kept up to date with the difference she has made to 800 children's lives, thanks to technology.

She said: "The whole of the country is still going through spirals of violence and suffering because of the identity conflicts. There is killing and destruction.

"It's not something that I like to talk about but it's something that I have to, to try and help the people in my country.

Former councillor Nick Tomaszewski placed a wreath at the stone
Former councillor Nick Tomaszewski placed a wreath at the stone

"Children and women are still suffering greatly. Young men are suffering in silence.

"I wanted to do something to help the people of my country but there is only so much I can do."

She concluded her speech by asking people to help her confront the issue by lobbying their local MPs.

Holocaust Memorial Day is a national commemoration day in the United Kingdom dedicated to the remembrance of those who suffered in The Holocaust, under Nazi Persecution, and in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the 25th anniversary of the genocide in Bosnia.

The event in Deal also featured poems read by Deal Town councillors Adrian Friend and Ben Bano. Cllr Pam Brivio from Dover read a segment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the United Nations in 1948.

Cllr Susan Carlyle read an extract from Michael Rosen's The Missing.

It was followed by a short service and wreath laying ceremony in St George's Church Garden led by the Rev Chris Spencer.

Around 50 people gathered around the Holocaust Memorial Stone for a minutes silence and prayers.

f, anyone interested to help Green Kordofan with the building of the infrastructure ( shelter)

To donate to Green Kordofan, visit: justgiving.com/campaign/agift4savinglives

Read more: All the latest news from Deal

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