North Darfur: ‘Children dying as RSF block aid’
This report by Sudan Tribune is part of a collaborative newsroom initiative spearheaded by the Sudan Media Forum under the #StandWithSudan campaign.
August 24, 2024 (EL FASHER) -In the heart of Zamzam camp, near El Fasher, North Darfur’s capital, Maryam Abdallah, a displaced resident, endured the horror of watching her infant starve to death. Her family, unable to provide food and medicine, witnessed his tragic demise.
Maryam recounted earlier this week to Sudan Tribune, part of the Sudan Media Forum*, the sorrow of losing her three-year-old son, Babiker Khater, after a prolonged illness caused by malnutrition. “I watched him die in my hands because we couldn’t provide him with treatment and food,” she said.
Her tragedy reflects the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people trapped amidst shelling and fighting in El Fasher and surrounding camps. The conflict parties are accused of obstructing relief delivery, causing severe shortages of essential goods and a steep rise in the prices of those available. These prices are far beyond what displaced people can afford, especially with the scarcity of job opportunities, even in markets and agriculture.
Previously, Maryam worked in the markets to provide her children with one meal a day, but the ongoing fighting forced the markets to close, leaving her without an income to buy food.
“My child was too young to endure hunger and died. Many of my neighbours’ children have also died, with doctors citing malnutrition and acute diarrhoea as the causes.”
“We have no corn or anything else… The camp is besieged by the [paramilitary Rapid Support Forces] RSF, and aid organisations have stopped supplying us with food. The remaining children must be saved to prevent more deaths.”
Despite the loss of her child to hunger, Maryam calls urgently for food and medicines to be provided to save the children of Zamzam camp from widespread famine.
On 1 August, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) declared a famine in Zamzam camp, home to half a million displaced people. However, Sudanese authorities denied the famine, attributing the food shortages in displacement camps to the RSF siege on El Fasher.
Located approximately 11 kilometres south of El Fasher, Zamzam camp is divided into four sections: A, B, C, and D. Displaced people who fled their homes in 2004 during the height of the Darfur war against the former regime reside in the large Section A.
‘Surviving on grass‘
Displaced resident Alawiya Abakar described the situation in Zamzam camp as dire, citing the scarcity, high prices, and food insecurity. She explained that the displaced once relied on food rations from the UN’s World Food Programme, but these stopped when the war began.
Alawiya fears that famine will soon engulf all of North Darfur, as millet and sorghum grains have become unavailable, jobs are scarce, and livelihoods have been disrupted.
She highlighted the high prices and extreme scarcity of basic commodities, which have forced many, including her family, to rely on madeeda, a porridge made from sorghum or millet mixed with water, salt, and sometimes sugar. Alawi noted that the lack of food has driven them to consume grass that grows due to the rains, such as mallow and despite doctors’ warnings that relying on a single, unhealthy food source makes them more susceptible to disease.
A kilogramme of meat in Zamzam camp now costs SDG10,000, a sum most camp residents cannot afford. Medicine is also in short supply, exacerbating the spread of epidemic diseases like malaria and watery diarrhoea.
Alawiya reported that the mortality rate for children due to malnutrition in Zamzam camp is between 3 to 4 cases per day.
Nourelhuda Hamed, a human rights activist in Zamzam camp, holds the RSF responsible for the worsening conditions. She stated that the RSF’s siege on El Fasher is causing famine in Zamzam and other areas. The restrictions on food and medicine have led to the spread of diseases, including malaria, infections, and fevers, along with eye infections.
She described thousands of women struggling to receive treatment in front of the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)-supported health centre, noting that the international organisation provides therapeutic nutrition for children under five and pregnant women. She reported an increase in malnutrition cases among children, leading to a rise in mortality among both children and pregnant women.
Beyond the lack of food and medicine, residents of Zamzam camp are also suffering from insecurity on the camp’s outskirts due to the large deployment of tribal militias allied with the RSF in their conflict against the army and armed movements in El Fasher.
“Girls who leave the camp are often raped by the RSF and allied militias. There have been numerous killings and rapes of women by the RSF and their allies.”
The United Nations has called for immediate action to halt the RSF attacks in El Fasher and to open safe corridors for the delivery of humanitarian aid to combat famine, particularly in Zamzam camp.
Contaminated water
The displaced in Zamzam camp are living in shacks built from soft bricks and local materials like straw, which cannot withstand the high winds and heavy rains currently battering the area. Others are staying in overcrowded schools as more families fled and are still fleeing El Fasher.
Adam Mousa, an activist in Zamzam camp, reported that the camp has received displaced people from Nyala, Ed Daein, El Geneina, Zalingei, Khartoum, El Obeid, and El Gezira. Some are staying with families in huts, while others have settled in 14 schools.
The living situation has become even more difficult since the outbreak of the war and has worsened since the RSF siege of El Fasher began in April, he said. Humanitarian organisations have ceased operations, leaving the displaced without food, treatment, or shelter.
Mousa noted that the displaced had already stopped farming before the conflict due to the Janjaweed taking their land. Now, children and the elderly are starving to death.
He complained about the lack of drinking water, with 80 per cent of the camp’s wells dried up, forcing at least a third of the residents to depend on water brought by vendors from El Fasher, where a barrel now costs SDG6,000 due to high fuel prices.
According to Mousa, displaced people are resorting to drinking rainwater, pond water, and swamp water, despite the risk of diarrhoea from water contamination.
The ongoing conflict and siege of El Fasher present an existential crisis for tens of thousands of the most vulnerable displaced, who fear they will die of starvation, one after another.