Monthly report from the Coordinating Counselor of Team Zamzam:
June 15 – July 13, 2024 (translated by Gaffar Mohammud Saeneed)
Introduction
Sudan, since the outbreak of war, has witnessed extremely harsh and difficult humanitarian conditions. Additionally, tragedy has been experienced by hundreds of thousands; fear and tension are everywhere. The impact on individuals and society collectively has been overwhelming, and the Sudanese people continue to suffer enormously from the continuing pain of displacement in camps for the displaced; many are forced into neighboring countries in search of a better life, free of killing and further displacement.
Such displacement—as well as rape, looting, random threats, kidnapping, and the burning of homes of innocent civilians—has become a daily campaign by the merciless Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The Rapid Support Forces carry out indiscriminate attacks on unarmed civilians and displaced residents, using both heavy and light firearms. This has been especially true of El Fasher and the camps and villages around it. For political gain, the RSF is hoping to displace the maximum number of citizens. They have continued their siege of and assaults on El Fasher since the beginning of April; their actions take no consideration for the welfare of the city’s citizens.
The security situation
Since the beginning of fighting in Sudan on April 15, 2023, North Darfur State and its capital of El Fasher have witnessed extremely complex and dangerous security conditions that are difficult to describe. RSF violence has forced the displacement of most of the residents of the city’s neighborhoods to flee, especially from the eastern and northern sides of the city. They have been forced to abandon their homes and possessions, creating a disastrous influx to the Zamzam internally displaced persons (IDP) camp; the camp now suffers from humanitarian and security conditions that have badly deteriorated since the beginning of war 15 months ago.
The RSF has carried out indiscriminate bombing, directed at places crowded with defenceless civilians. These attacks have even reached citizens in the IDP camps, creating an atmosphere of terror, especially among women, children, and the elderly. Large number of citizens’ homes have been burned, buildings and social-service institutions—such as hospitals and health centers—have been destroyed with heavy firearms, something that residents of El Fasher have not witnessed in Sudan’s long previous wars. The intense shooting in the city has led to the fleeing of a great many of its residents to Zamzam camp; others have fled to the neighboring countryside; and many others have left Sudan, seeking safety in other countries.
Since the war intensified in El Fasher, many families who have means, or family members abroad to help them, fled to countries such Libya, Chad Egypt, South Sudan, Ethiopia and others—again because of the intolerable, chaotic security. As a result, the city of El Fasher has become almost devoid of civilian residents. Civilians constitute only a very small percentage of the population at present. The city continues to experience fear, tension, the looting of the property of innocent poor people, and the destruction of their homes.
All entrance roads through which food, medicines, and other essential needs must enter are completely controlled by the ruthless RSF. The international and regional humanitarian organizations that used to work in the area have fled the city, leaving people without supplies, especially water, medicine, and food. It is clear from this that Darfur needs immediate intervention from organizations and charities to provide basic services to the displaced.
Deteriorating living conditions
In light of the absence of security and the absence of a functioning economy, living conditions are miserable. Ominously, severe famine is now spreading throughout Darfur, and North Darfur is particularly affected. Living conditions have become intolerably threatening to the lives of millions of people. There is no meaningful government and no party to intervene to support the displaced. Compounding the challenges of surviving, the collapsed economy provides no means to earn a living.
This is in addition to the absence of work in all parts of the country, and the complete collapse of all income sources. The agricultural sector has collapsed and virtually all Sudanese companies have been completely out of service since the beginning of the fighting.
Over the past three years, the entire state of El Fasher and its camps have become barren, as all agricultural lands and activity have collapsed because the RSF and its Janjaweed militia allies have made farms into pastures for livestock, much of it stolen from displaced persons. This is the critical fact in the catastrophic rise in food prices.
This is for example today in the Zamzam camp market
A pound of sugar costs 2000 Sudanese pounds (a little over $3.30 /USD)
A bottle of oil costs 2000 SP
A salted onion for 10,000 SP
A bar of laundry soap 1300 SP
A barrel of water costs 7000 SP
Tea bag for 1500 SP
And other foodstuffs have similarly inflated prices, which rise relentlessly.
Health conditions
In light of current fighting, there is an absence of security, an absence of work, and an absence of food and water. Psychological conditions within the camp population are deteriorating rapidly. This is in many ways the consequence of three months of continuous indiscriminate bombing; this has led to high death rates, continuing displacement, and extremely high rates of acute malnutrition among children. There has also been a significant rise in obstetrical and gynaecology issues/diseases: more children are born with deformities and there has been an increase in the number of miscarriages among women in displacement camps.
All hospitals and health centers are completely out of service, except for health workers at the Southern Hospital. Medical facilities have been relentlessly targeted by the Rapid Support Forces. This also has forced many of the citizens of El Fasher to flee. The goal of the RSF is to capture El Fasher, as they have the other states of Darfur.
Inside the displacement camps—especially in Zamzam camp—there is terrible overcrowding, with more and more people suffering severely from the lack of health services, medicine, first aid tools, and a failure to expand primary health centers. Diseases are various and have spread rapidly: hepatitis C, cholera, diarrhea and acute malnutrition, which—along with disease—affects more than three-quarters of the children in Zamzam. There is an urgent need for humanitarian intervention.
As usual, Team Zamzam, along with its dedicated volunteers, carried out intensive, routine inspections among the displaced people and made a number visits to several shelter centers not in the camp, inspecting their conditions and collecting testimonies and reports for the purpose of providing simple humanitarian aid. Team Zamzam continues to provide help to the neediest on a monthly basis.
On July 1, 2024, an inspection was conducted on especially urgent humanitarian situations, including health, security and living conditions. Many have fled to these shelter centers for newly displaced people—many fleeing El Fasher to Zamzam camp, where they shelter in the two schools/centers (Al-Zaim Al-Azhari and Al-Salam 18 Girls).
These two shelters house more than 3,600 displaced families and from among these families, a total of 892 families were selected for food distribution.
The quantity and type of food items distributed in these two centers:
22 large bags of sugar containing 50 kilograms
260 bags of flour, which contain 25 kilograms inside each bag
320 bags of red lentils containing 50 kilograms inside
420 gallons of cooking oil, each container holding 12 liters of oil
Total food items distributed:
Sugar: 1100 kilograms
Flour: 1500 kilograms
Red lentils: 1000 kilograms
Cooking oil: 240 litres
Testimonies of beneficiaries inside the shelter center for displaced people:
Sheikh Adam Ali said:
“All the displaced people inside the shelter centers are suffering greatly from the lack of all basic services, public and private facilities, shortages of food, drink, clothing, housing, health services, and all the basic needs for the continuation of human life.”
“There are inside the center a large number of disabled people in critical condition and many wounded people who were infected with pneumonia inside the city of El Fasher. He also said, “We suffer from a severe shortage of hygiene tools and insecticides.”
Also, a young man with a mobility disability said that living conditions in shelter centers are very, very difficult due to the absence of all sources of family income, the absence of work, the absence of movement, and the lack of security, safety and stability in all parts of the country. “We need the immediate intervention of organizations, philanthropists and civil society organizations to save the lives of the displaced.”
For her part, Mrs. Sarah Ismail said:
“The Zaim Al-Azhari basic shelter center suffers from severe overcrowding and the number of displaced people far exceeds the capacity of one center.” She said: “We also suffer from a severe shortage of medicine, first aid tools, and the absence of treatments and this in addition to severe malnutrition among children and the spread of many diseases among the displaced.”
Another woman from inside the shelter center said that the fall rainy season will bring malaria and related diseases to the center, which has dwellings made of straw roofs, so we need tents, tarpaulins, and all kinds of other items before the heavy rains of the fall. [August is typically the rainiest month in Darfur’s rainy season; September is the second rainiest—ER]
Increasing cases of sexual violence
Since the outbreak of new violence in Sudan, many Sudanese women and young girls, especially Darfur, are threatened by the dangers of violence of all kinds, this including sexual, physical, as well as emotional and moral. All are practiced by the ruthless and racist and RSF militias that are terrifying all of Darfur.
Example:
On Monday, June 24th, at 8pm, the child Asmaa Babiker was attacked on her family farm in an area close to Zamzam camp on its southwest side. She was just a baby whose mother carried her and went with her to the farm to bring hay for the milk goats. The mother left the child with her older sister, who was only seven years old, and then went a short distance into the farm to get her hay.
Upon her return, she found one of her daughters covered in blood and the infant could not be seen anywhere. The mother screamed in panic and asked for help from other people near her. Then they followed the kidnapper’s tracks until they found the child thrown at a distance, with traces of blood on the child’s body.
After that, the mother returned with her two children and found nothing but the man’s footprints. She was so frightened she started screaming out, took her children, and ran to Zamzam camp; there she informed the father of her children,
The children were taken to the hospital for treatment, then were referred to the police station for investigation. But only a few days after this barbaric incident, the infant passed away leaving the traumatised mother in a state of psychological breakdown.
It is one of the most shocking incidents for everyone and since that incident, the mother is still living in a state of shock and deep trauma. The counselors of Team Zamzam have paid several visits to this traumatised mother to help and comfort her into talking and she is gradually recovering.
Cases of urinary fistula
In light of the ongoing battles, the absence of security, the disruption of hospitals and private clinics and health centers that treat fistula, the absence of other health centers specialized in treating fistula, it is not surprising that this collapse of the health system has led to high rates of infections among fistula patients.
Before the war on El Fasher, we (Team Zamzam) had a list of patients waiting for fistula surgeries of about 223 and we were treating at least two patients per month. But today, because of the absence of functioning health facilities and clinics—closed by the relentless attacks of the RSF—our efforts to provide this critical medical treatment have been temporarily halted. In the meantime, we continue to provide psychological support and counseling to help these girls and women to overcome their difficulties. It is a very difficult period for everyone here in Darfur, particularly in North Darfur State, but it is a particularly painful period for fistula patients. We are hopeful that we will be able to sustain them with continuous counselling efforts.
Recommendations from displaced people inside shelter centers for newly displaced people in Zamzam:
They suffer severely from the lack of food, medicine, clothing, and water, and there is no work inside the camps. Therefore, they are in need of immediate and rapid intervention of humanitarian organizations, philanthropists, and all young people outside the country to provide basic, health, and security services for the continuation of normal life.
- All shelter centers need hygiene supplies, insecticides, and more health facilities.
- An urgent need of water equipment such as water tanks, repairing of more water pumps, barrels, etc
- An urgent need of tarpaulins to protect lives from heavy rain and dust because the season is due.
- The necessity of a complete ceasefire so that citizens can return to their homes.
- The urgent need to open roads and expand rapid intervention for food supplies in the immediate future.
- The need for legal and civil society organizations to look into the situation of the displaced inside the shelter centers in Zamzam camp to investigate the potential crimes of all sorts committed by the RSF.
- The necessity of providing vital needs for malnourished children, this especially for orphan children to save their lives.
- The urgent needs to pressure the RSF (Janjaweed) militias to leave the homes and farms of citizens.
- It is necessary to provide services and expand shelter centers for the displaced. This because the current size of shelter centers in Zamzam camp is not enough for all the displaced, and there is severe overcrowding in the centers. One small-size shelter center that is supposed to have a maximum of 500 people at any one time is sheltering more than 3,000 displaced people, so the need to expand shelter centers is imperative.
An urgent appeal to philanthropists from the Team Zamzam:
Firstly, we renew our thanks and gratitude to everyone who contributed to our Team Zamzam project, which has now completed its fourth year. The team project and its dedicated counselors and committed volunteers have been doing tremendous humanitarian work, driven by love of serving their people. Today, this project has become the only center of hope that continues to help tens of thousands of families suffering from severe impoverishment, hunger and starvation.
This project could not have been realized without your support and today, the people of Darfur. But the women of Darfur, the young girls and victims of sexual violence, are in desperate needs of your help—more than ever before.
The RSF, the racist Arab militia that is financed by oil-rich Arab countries such as the UAE, have as their main goal to make their victims surrender through starvation and through the continuing siege of El Fasher, including artillery shelling. There has been massive displacement, but the proud people of El Fasher are fighting back and resisting the RSF effort at depopulation and demographic change.
It seems as if the world has forgotten the just cause of Darfur, but people here aren’t losing hope despite the current silence of governments of the free world. But the sustainability of our resistance depends on your support to help displaced people in these difficult times.
The people of Darfur are in desperate need of a great many things, but food and medicine now come first.
Eric Reeves, Ph.D.
Sudan research, analysis, asylum representation, philanthropy
Fellow, Rift Valley Institute
Trustee Bar Association
Formerly Senior Fellow, Harvard University, François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights
Founder, co-Chair, Project Responding to Sexual Violence in Darfur
Twitter: @SudanReeves
Author: Compromising with Evil (2012) [free e-Book on-line]