Sudan’s disabled displaced face starvation and neglect as aid fails
February 16, 2026 (RTAWILA/ARDEMI, Sudan/Chad) – A Sudan Tribune investigation into displacement camps across the Darfur region and eastern Chad reveals a systematic failure in the international humanitarian response to account for thousands of Sudanese with disabilities, leaving a highly vulnerable population trapped in a cycle of malnutrition and medical neglect.
Data gathered from field researchers and aid groups indicates that while people with disabilities make up an estimated 22% of displaced households in areas like North Darfur’s Tawila, less than 10% of those registered have access to essential assistive devices or specialized medical care.
The investigation found that the lack of a comprehensive official census by international organizations has created a “statistical vacuum.” This void prevents the allocation of specific funding for prosthetic limbs, hearing aids, and accessible infrastructure, effectively excluding a significant portion of the displaced population from the global aid mandate.
Physical barriers to survival
In the camps of Ardemi and Tawila, the physical environment has become as much of a threat as the conflict itself. Reuters spoke with several displaced persons who were forced to abandon wheelchairs during the flight from paramilitary attacks, only to find that the sandy, rugged terrain of the camps makes independent movement impossible.
The “one-size-fits-all” aid distribution model used by many agencies fails to account for those with limited mobility. Witnesses described a burgeoning “tax on disability,” where those unable to navigate long, sandy queues for food and water must sell portions of their meagre rations to able-bodied individuals to have supplies delivered to their tents.
Medical and educational collapse
The consequences of this neglect are often irreversible. Medical workers in the region warn that a lack of specialized physical therapy is turning treatable war injuries into permanent impairments.
“We are seeing a generation of ‘newly disabled’ whose conditions are hardening because the response focuses only on trauma surgery, not long-term rehabilitation,” said one local medic, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
The failure extends to the “tent schools” operated by NGOs. A survey of educational facilities in three major camps revealed a total absence of teachers trained in sign language or Braille, effectively ending the education of children who lost their hearing or sight during the war.
A grassroots response
In the absence of a robust international strategy, the displaced have been forced to innovate. Local “mobile teams” of volunteers—many of them disabled themselves—have formed to provide peer-to-peer support, navigating the camps to assist those with the highest needs.
In Ardemi, women with disabilities have established handicraft collectives to generate independent income, attempting to bypass an aid system that they say views them only as “passive victims” rather than active participants.
Despite these local efforts, activists argue that without a fundamental shift in how international agencies collect data and design infrastructure, thousands will remain “ghosts in the system,” surviving on the margins of an already dire humanitarian catastrophe.
The Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) did not respond to requests for comment on the targeting of civilian infrastructure that has contributed to the rising disability rates in the region.