MSF decries horrific violence, humanitarian crisis in Central Darfur
May 18, 2024 (ZALINGEI) – The displaced people in Al-Hasahisa camp in Sudan’s Central Darfur state capital, Zalingei are caught up in cross-fire as fighting has continued between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since April 2023, the medical charity, MSF said.
According to the United Nations, by November, the camp had been besieged by RSF for months, leaving the injured unable to seek medical care outside the camp, and blocking water and food supplies from reaching people.
The Hasahisa camp, once housing about 50,000 people, most already displaced in the early 2000s, eventually emptied as people managed to flee the relentless bombing, leaving behind damaged brick homes and ghost-like streets.
With nowhere else to turn, they’ve now sheltered for months on end in looted and abandoned schools, banks, fire stations and other camps across the city.
Several people gave testimonies on the harsh humanitarian conditions.
Najwa, 30, and her three children have taken shelter in the city’s looted bank with 30 other displaced people from Hasahisa camp. She’s created an illusion of home there: bank safes used as closets, bricked-up windows, once meant for sunlight, and windowsills now holding a few tattered bags and wilted plants.
“We are living in these conditions without a roof, and we have no food,” says Najwa, pointing at the torn sheets draped above the lobby”, she told MSF,
“But we’ve never received any assistance, not even a bar of soap. Soon the rainy season will come, and we don’t know where to go” she added.
Also abandoned at the heart of the city is the University of Zalingei which was once a centre for students of medicine, agriculture as well as technology.
Transformed into a makeshift shelter, more than a thousand people are living in the school´s classrooms and offices, mostly displaced from Hasahisa camp.
Mainly farmers are unable to regularly cultivate crops and make an income.
The community relies on each other due to absence of humanitarian assistance.
“We all make contributions and anyone participating can share [medication],” says Mohammed, one of the first to flee to the university”, Najwa explained.
She further added, “We share with the community and treat the patients.”
Healthcare workers and facilities have also been attacked and looted, leaving large portions of the health system damaged or non-functional, MSF reported.
According to medical charity, the sole remaining specialised healthcare facility in Central Darfur has been looted multiples. To restore specialised care in the state, MSF teams are providing specialised care at the Zalingei Teaching Hospital and supporting the Ministry of Health by training and incentivizing staff, as well as rehabilitating the emergency, maternity and paediatric departments.
In April, MSF teams reportedly provided over 900 emergency consultations, nearly 400 paediatric admissions, almost 100 safe deliveries, and treated over 50 children for malnutrition in the inpatient therapeutic feeding centre.
“The war has completely disrupted people’s access to healthcare in Sudan,” says Victor García Leonor, MSF emergency coordinator in Sudan.
He added, “Medicine and food prices have soared making it inaccessible for people, especially the displaced, and most health facilities are no longer functioning properly. At the same time, the country is facing a humanitarian void, which is further exacerbating the huge unmet healthcare needs.”
Meanwhile there are concerns that despite Sudan being one of the world’s largest displacement crises, many humanitarian organisations have not returned since evacuating after the onset of the war last year.
MSF continues to call on all warring parties and belligerents to respect the special protections that healthcare workers and medical facilities are provided under International Humanitarian law, as well as ensure safe humanitarian access to all areas of Sudan, without exception, and stop blockages of supplies and staff.
It further appealed to the United Nations to urgently scale up and focus on clear results related to increasing access so that they actively contribute towards enabling a rapid and massive scale-up of humanitarian assistance.
(ST)