Team Zamzam: Monthly report for March 2024, from the coordinating counselor (posted April 2, 2024)
[translated by Gaffar Mohammud Saeneen, edited by Eric Reeves]
Overview
Sudan, one of the largest countries in Africa, is for this reason particularly exposed to the risks of deadly wars, including and internal and external displacement. Such displacement is currently due to fierce clashes between the army and the Rapid Support Forces in cities, states, and indeed the national capital. Since April 15, 2023, Sudan has endured continual displacement. It lacks a unified government that might address security problems and the threats confronting innocent citizens on a daily basis.
Sudan has become a ghastly playing field between the regular army (Sudan Armed Forces, or SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF); neither side takes into account the condition of innocent citizens and defenseless displaced persons at the state and local level. In this grotesque war, the RSF and their Janjaweed militia allies have used all kinds of methods for killing. Altogether their actions constitute genocide, affecting primarily the displaced, especially women and children in displacement camps. This has led to greater and greater suffering, with no end in sight.
Security conditions inside the displacement camps and North Darfur El Fasher state
The security situation in Darfur has deteriorated continuously since fight began a year ago. The five states of Darfur have witnessed particularly large human displacement to neighboring countries; people are leaving because of a lack of security and an increasingly chaotic situation. The humanitarian situation that has been created is ravaging the land.
Ongoing internal displacement within the same state and external displacement to other states has led to high death rates, serious psychological harm, and increased tensions between different populations. To this day, to the very moment of my writing this report, indiscriminate firing of heavy weapons has continued in El Fasher and its suburbs. This has led to a great number of injuries among of displaced persons, particularly in Naivasha camp. Many of the injured are in critical conditions, and there are is not point in transferring the wounded to the hospital since there is an almost complete lack of medical services.
Most of those who have been displaced have had all their possessions stolen from their homes, have lost their farm crops, and their shops. On top of this, we have been deeply disappointed by the departure of nearly all humanitarian organizations from Sudan. This comes at a time when people are in desperate need. Waves of death, hunger, and extreme thirst are experienced by all; certainly the number of deaths has increased dramatically since the beginning of war.
Work carried out by Team Zamzam during March 2024:
It is now widely known that Team Zamzam—and its growing group of volunteers—has provided the only humanitarian assistance for the vast majority of people in this vast IDP camp. We provide assistance with a sense of solidarity and offer out charitable hands with this modest initiative, providing as much humanitarian aid as possible to those who have taken shelter in Zamzam over the past three years.
On March 3, 2024 we moved at exactly seven in the morning and headed towards the second shelter center in the camp. We targeted two centers where living conditions are very difficult: Al Salam Center 18 and Zamzam Secondary School for Boys. These two centers house a very large number of families, 812 in total. Of these, about 600 families were targeted for assistance with the food we had available; they were selected under the supervision of the organizing committee within the center.
Specific cases include:
111 families experiencing severe shortages of food
100 Children with special needs (e.g., paralyzed children)
150 orphans suffering from severe malnutrition
140 widows
89 very elderly people
10 people with special needs (deaf, blind, mentally disabled)
Total = 600
Quantities of food items distributed:
16 large bags of sugar (each bag contains 50 kilos)
10 bags of flour (each bag contains 25 kg)
28 cartons of pasta (each carton contains 24 half-kilo pieces)
8 bags of red lentils (each bag contains 25 kilos)
14 bags of infant formula (each bag contains 18 kilograms)
Testimonies from displaced people:
There is a central committee working on questions of how to distribute humanitarian supplies to individuals in these shelters within Zamzam. The head of the committee, Omda Gedo Adam, spoke of our efforts and gave a vote of thanks. H expressed appreciation to all those who are coming on a regular basis to provide help to the weak and displaced, with a special thanks for team Zamzam and its volunteers team for providing wonderful and beautiful humanitarian service. The Omda said:
“We have been stuck in this center for several weeks, suffering from severe shortages of food and with no humanitarian charities service coming from the outside to help us except Team Zamzam.”
He concluded saying by saying: “Hunger, thirst, and the living conditions in general around the camps are getting worse day by day. We went 13 days without water or food, but today we offer Praise be to God on this holy day of Ramadan for the aid basket arrived. And e are thankful for the water provided by the Wadi Hour Development Organization. Without this, there are no services, even though these days we have very large numbers of children and elderly dying because of this severe shortage in all services.”
For her part, Hajja Mahla Nimr, who lives in Al-Salam School 18, a shelter for displaced persons, said:
“I am old and have a visual disability. My eldest son was killed by Janjaweed at the beginning of the battles, leaving me many orphan in my arms, and my other son is mentally disabled and does not know how anything, and daughter has fled to Chad, and I am in desperate need help to feed my grandchildren who are suffering from hunger. I thank you team Zamzam for this food package.”
The need is great, as one young activist from on the shelters noted:
“The displaced people coming from Nyala and its suburbs have been subjected to intense attack by the Rapid Support Forces as a result, they were forced to leave left all their possessions, their homes, and their large quantities of agricultural crops. He said: “We had stored a large crop of peanuts—more than 230 sacks; but everything was looted by the Rapid Support Forces. They also took a large number of sheep, and even our clothes and utensils.” Today, we only have our souls. We need immediate intervention from charitable organizations and the provision of basic services to continue our lives.”
Sexual violence:
Stories of women, girls—even young girls—have been increasingly exposed to sexual violence, a matter of deepest concern in displacement camps. This is especially true in Zamzam IDP camps, one of the largest camp and located near a garrison of RSF/Janjaweed militias.
One example: on February 23, 2024, at exactly eight o’clock in the morning, a girl named [F, L, R] was subjected to sexual and physical violence while she was leaving the camp with her friends to bring basic necessities for the family. Her attackers were men of the Rapid Support Forces and Janjaweed, riding on motorcycles. In addition to raping the victim, the men robbed her of her belongings, including her phone, some money, and was subjected to racially humiliating verbal violence. The victim said:
”While we were on our way, the attackers suddenly appeared from behind us, and with fear and panic, we tried to change our route in order to leave the way for them; but they began to surround us from all directions. At this moment we realized that we were under attack, and suddenly two of the girls decided to run away leaving me alone.”
The victim continued:
“I was very afraid and trembling from fear. They started asking questions like where are you from? Which tribe you belong to? Why are you shaking? Do you like Arabs or not and many questions. Of course, it is known that if I say I am from Zamzam camp, they will be treated very harshly, so I decided to tell them that I am from the village of Jujaira.
“After that, one of the Janjaweed said, ‘Today, we are your men and we will deal with you whether you like it or not’ and they started touching my body. I tried to resist, but they started hitting me very violently until I gave up resisting. I begged them to leave me alone but they continued. After this, they left me on the side of the road at the scene of the attack; I hS collapsed on the ground and unconscious.
“I am was 16 years old, and I never had this painful experience in my entire life. Two passers-by helped me to reach my home in Zamzam camp. Since this incident, I am scared of leaving the gate of our house and I am still suffering from intensive pain in my private area. I thank sisters from Team Zamzam for bringing pain relief medicines and comforting me for my ordeal.”
Other work carried out during March 2024:
63 patients were accompanied to different hospitals for medical treatment, including three fistula patients;
16 inspection visits carried out to inspect living conditions within the shelter centers;
4 meeting held with the representatives of shelters and women’s groups;
22 individual counseling sessions with the victims of sexual violence;
11 group counseling sessions with victims of sexual violence;
2 important meetings held with neighbourhood committees, as well as Omdas and Sheikhs to discuss the current challenges and the problem of drinking water.