سودانايل أول صحيفة سودانية رقمية تصدر من الخرطوم
أخبار أخرى
Sudan Media Forum: Darfur, June 26, 2025 (Mawatnoon) – For five straight days, heavy, continuous rains have lashed the regions of Jebel Marra and Tawila in North and Central Darfur, flooding camps for the displaced. According to the General Coordination for Displaced Persons and Refugees, the deluge has caused severe losses and worsened an already dire situation, compounding the devastation from the ongoing war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The Coordination has warned of widespread outbreaks of epidemics and infectious diseases—including cholera, malaria, and malnutrition—driven by a severe lack of sanitation and a shortage of medical staff. For populations already in critical condition, their plight is set to worsen with the expected rainfall of this year’s autumn season, especially from June to October.
Amid the ongoing siege of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, and a deteriorating humanitarian situation due to relentless military operations, food shortages, and rampant inflation, tens of thousands of displaced people in Darfur are facing a mounting catastrophe. This is especially true in the relatively safe areas of Tawila and Jebel Marra.
As the rainy season begins, those who fled the horrors of the war now endure harsh conditions, lacking the most basic necessities of life, including shelter, blankets, and medicine. The dire circumstances have prompted international organizations to classify the events as “the greatest humanitarian disaster.”
Adam Regal, the official spokesman for the General Coordination for Displaced Persons and Refugees, describes the conditions in the large displaced persons’ gatherings as “tragic and bitter.” He confirms that residents of El Fasher and its camps are suffering from catastrophic humanitarian conditions, with food prices soaring beyond their reach amid a cash shortage and rampant crisis profiteering.
Regal adds that the danger is not limited to the heavy rains but extends to the resulting spread of disease, which particularly affects children, women, and the elderly. “The specter of hunger, famine, malnutrition, and thirst constantly threatens children and pregnant and nursing women,” he noted, “alongside a severe scarcity of shelter materials.”
The latest statistics indicate that over 700,000 people have fled to Tawila alone, all facing acute shortages of food and services. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has confirmed that hundreds fleeing the Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps are also facing catastrophic conditions. Tawila and Jebel Marra, controlled by the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur, have become the primary destinations for hundreds of thousands escaping the escalating violence in North Darfur.
Violations and calls for aid
In a statement on June 17, the General Coordination described the situation in Darfur as “almost completely torn apart,” warning that it is spiralling out of control with a humanitarian catastrophe looming. The Coordination called on the United Nations, its agencies, and international organizations to intensify their efforts to address the crisis, especially as displacement continues daily from El Fasher to Tawila and Jebel Marra.
According to the statement, serious violations have been documented on the road between El Fasher and Tawila, including 95 cases of gender-based violence, 15 deaths from hunger and thirst, 24 cases of psychological trauma, and 17 direct shooting incidents. It also reported 3 individual killings in the Kass area and 4 in the Bindisi area.
The statement warned of outbreaks of serious diseases like cholera and malaria, in addition to other infections, amid the acute shortage of medical personnel.
Adam Regal again pointed to the gross human rights violations stemming from a social fabric torn apart by the war. This has spawned new rhetoric that deepens hate speech and divides the country for the narrow benefit of those who profit from the conflict. The warring parties continue to commit atrocities: the RSF shells the Abu Shouk camp daily, resulting in dozens of dead and wounded, while the Sudanese army conducts airstrikes on populated areas across Darfur, allegedly using internationally prohibited heavy weapons.
Stories from the heart of the suffering
A woman from El Fasher recounted her arduous journey to Tawila, which took three days on foot. She began by using donkey-drawn carts for her belongings, passing through dangerous areas where she was forced to sleep in the open. Ihsan Mohamed Abdallah, displaced from El Fasher’s al-Thawra neighbourhood, said she fled amid heavy and indiscriminate shelling, suffering robbery and thirst along the way. She eventually managed to get onto a truck with other children and elderly people to reach Tawila, where they now live in tents, awaiting aid. Similarly, Mishkat Adam, who fled from El Fasher to Jebel Marra, laments the lack of medicine and sanitation in her new camp, which she reached after a gruelling journey of hunger and thirst.
The regional challenge
Meanwhile, the flow of refugees from Sudan into neighbouring Chad is unrelenting. UNICEF reports that over 700,000 Sudanese refugee children have arrived in Chad alone. Since the war began in April 2023, more than two million children have been displaced. Chad, one of the world’s poorest countries, faces an enormous challenge; measles and malnutrition are rampant, and the risk of a cholera epidemic spreading from Sudan remains high.
“Hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable children are bearing the brunt of the war in Sudan and the lack of basic services for those who have fled to Chad,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell after a recent visit. She described the state of those arriving in eastern Chad: “They arrived carrying nothing but the horrific memories of killings, mass rape, and burning homes.” She also visited families in Adré, a border town that now hosts six refugees for every resident, where only one in three children is in school and basic services are on the verge of collapse.
The UNHCR notes that over 844,000 Sudanese refugees have crossed into Chad since April 2023, joining 409,000 who had fled previous waves of conflict since 2003. The agency stated that the number of refugees has tripled since attacks on civilians in North Darfur intensified, with nearly 69,000 people arriving in just over a month.
The Sudan Media Forum and its member institutions publish this material, prepared by the newspaper “Mawatnoon,” as part of their effort to reflect the humanitarian crisis and violations in the Darfur region, where battles and clashes continue, especially in North Darfur, from which waves of displacement are ongoing due to escalating shelling and violence.
