Killings, rapes, disappearances rise in Sudan’s Zamzam camp, official says
May 15, 2025 (ZAMZAM) – Cases of killing, rape and enforced disappearance have increased in the Zamzam camp for displaced people in North Darfur, a camp official said on Thursday, citing data from an online monitoring platform.
The administration of Zamzam camp, located 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) south of El Fasher in North Darfur state, launched the platform to track abuses within the camp by elements of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Mohamed Khamis Douda, a spokesman for the Zamzam camp administration, told Sudan Tribune that the latest update to the online platform on Thursday recorded 31 cases of rape, 52 enforced disappearances, and 173 deaths within the past week.
He noted that the platform faces several challenges, including low registration rates because most displaced people lack internet access, particularly in El Fasher and nearby Tawila.
Douda also said that many residents lost their phones during the attack on the camp or during displacement, and many were forced to sell their phones to fund their travel to safer areas, impacting the documentation of the abuses they suffered.
The RSF attacked Zamzam on April 11 after months of shelling and took control of it after three days of clashes. The attack killed 400 civilians, including aid workers, and caused 406,000 people to flee, while 180,000 remain trapped in the camp, according to the United Nations.
Mohamed Khamis Douda reported that conditions were calm in El Fasher despite continued mutual shelling between the Sudanese army and the RSF.
He stressed the worsening suffering of civilians in El Fasher due to severe shortages of medicine in health centers and hospitals and high food prices.
He said a bar of laundry soap cost 6,000 Sudanese pounds, while a kilogram of meat was 12,000 pounds in cash, selling for 20,000 pounds via bank transfer. A barrel of water (44 gallons) costs 8,000 pounds in cash, rising to 12,000 pounds via bank transfer.
El Fasher suffers from a severe cash shortage, forcing citizens to exchange 100,000 pounds via transfer for only 65,000 pounds in cash.
The city has been under a tight siege by RSF forces for over a year, leading to the disappearance of many goods, including fuel. This has forced residents to transport those injured by shelling to health centres using donkey carts, known locally as “karo”.