MSF evacuates medical team from southern Khartoum hospital
July 10, 2024 (KHARTOUM) – Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) decided on Wednesday to evacuate its team from the Turkish Hospital, located in an area controlled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) south of the capital Khartoum, due to increasing violations against its staff.
The conflict, ongoing since 15 April 2023, has caused 70% to 80% of medical facilities to cease operations due to bombing, occupation, lack of supplies, water and electricity outages, and a shortage of personnel.
In a statement received by Sudan Tribune, MSF said, “After more than a year of violent incidents inside and outside the Turkish Hospital, including threats to the lives of our staff, we have decided to evacuate the hospital.”
MSF noted that it was able to provide direct life-saving treatment at the Turkish Hospital for 14 months, despite deliberate obstacles from the warring parties.
The organisation revealed that its staff working at the Turkish Hospital were subjected to repeated harassment both inside the facility and on the street while commuting to and from work, with many threatened with arrest.
MSF reported that one of its employees was arrested inside the hospital by armed men who took him to an unknown location and severely beat him.
The suspension of MSF’s work at the Turkish Hospital is the fifth of its kind in Sudan this year. The organisation previously suspended its work at Bashair Hospital, Wad Madani Hospital in Al Jazirah state, the Southern Hospital, and the Babiker Nahar Paediatric Centre in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state.
Claire Nicolet, MSF’s Emergency Response Manager in Sudan, said, “The situation at the Turkish Hospital, located in an area controlled by the RSF, has become unacceptable.”
She reported multiple violent incidents inside and outside the hospital, and the lives of MSF staff were repeatedly threatened.
Nicolet added, “On the nights of 17 and 18 June, dozens of wounded fighters were brought to the Turkish Hospital, and our team was violently awakened by Kalashnikov rifles being fired at their bedrooms. This kind of violence against our staff is unacceptable.”
“Hospitals and health facilities should be protected and respected by the warring parties as sanctuaries for the sick and wounded where health workers can safely deliver medical care,” continues Nicolet. “They cannot have their lives put at-risk as they try to save the lives of other people.”
Nicolet pointed out that the organisation’s team at the hospital is suffering from physical and psychological exhaustion due to the blockade imposed by the Sudanese authorities since last September, preventing the transfer of medical supplies and humanitarian workers to areas controlled by the RSF.
The withdrawal of the MSF team from the hospital will halt surgical operations, care for pregnant women before and after childbirth, therapeutic feeding for children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, and the neonatal unit, despite it being the only one operating in the entire Khartoum state.