Deaths reported among displaced fleeing Sudan’s Zamzam camp after RSF takeover
April 16, 2025 (EL FASHER) – Deaths have occurred among people fleeing Zamzam camp near El Fasher to Tawila in North Darfur state, Adam Rijal, spokesperson for the Coordination for Displaced Persons and Refugees, revealed on Wednesday.
Some 400,000 internally displaced persons (IDPS) were displaced again from Zamzam camp, located 12 kilometres southwest of El Fasher, after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) reportedly overran and took control of the camp following three days of clashes.
Rijal said in a statement that “93,000 people from Zamzam camp arrived in Tawila yesterday, Tuesday, under critical humanitarian conditions during their journey. Scarcity of water and food led to deaths from hunger, thirst, illness, and psychological trauma.”
He noted that the displaced people in Tawila, located about 60 kilometres from Zamzam camp, urgently need food, water, and healthcare, as the situation there exceeds the capacity of the local community and aid organisations.
Rijal stated that 279,000 displaced people have arrived in Tawila over the past two weeks, having fled from El Fasher, the Zamzam, Abu Shouk, and Abuja camps, and other areas around El Fasher. Most are women, children, and the elderly.
The United Nations said on Tuesday that RSF forces prevented young men from leaving Zamzam camp after taking control, and that those who fled were stripped of all their belongings.
The RSF reportedly used artillery shelling, drones, and ground assaults to seize Zamzam, aiming to tighten its siege on El Fasher, which it has surrounded for nearly a year. This has led to severe shortages of food, water, and essential supplies in the city.
Separately, the aid organisation Save the Children confirmed that thousands of families arrived in Tawila on foot without food or water, fleeing attacks on the Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps.
It said many new arrivals, including thousands of children, are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, noting that IDPs in Zamzam camp had endured near-famine conditions for about eight months due to a siege that crippled food supplies.
The organisation reported that its staff in Tawila heard accounts from new arrivals who said they had witnessed or experienced horrific physical violence, and that some children had become separated from their parents.
Thousands of families in Tawila are now living in open areas, under trees, and in overcrowded schools and shelters.
Save the Children stated that the attacks on the Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps killed more than 300 people, including over 20 children.
It added that it is providing emergency support to the newly displaced families in Tawila, stressing that health facilities in the area, already under severe pressure, are now overwhelmed and unable to cope with the massive number of patients among the new arrivals, many of whom are sick or injured.