Sudan: ‘You Can Run – But We Will Find You,’ Militias Warn Terrified Civilians

Forced into squalor

In Darfur in western Sudan, many people uprooted by violence gather in disused public buildings with few essentials to water and sanitation.  

Meanwhile, new displacement and attacks on civilians continue within Darfur and neighbouring Kordofan region, UNHCR warned, in communities “that are already devastated and have been subjected to unspeakable atrocities”.

The ongoing fighting has also severely constrained humanitarian access and disrupted aid delivery for over two years. With seasonal rains underway, many roads will be impassable for months, further complicating the delivery of aid, the UN agency noted.  

The persistent insecurity has also impeded farming, deepening deprivation in areas at risk of famine or already experiencing famine-like conditions.

Latest UNHCR data indicates that more than 873,000 Sudanese refugees have fled Darfur and crossed into Chad, which now hosts the largest number of registered Sudanese refugees since the start of the conflict.

One in three people in eastern Chad is now a refugee.

Deadly disease

In addition to heavy fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and their former allies-turned opponents – the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries – that began in April 2023, civilians now face a fast-spreading and deadly cholera outbreak.

“Cholera has swept across Sudan with all the states reporting outbreaks,” said Dr. Ilham Nour, Senior Emergency Officer with the UN World Health Organization (WHO).

She noted that since last July, nearly 100,000 cases have been reported.

Lives on the line

The highly contagious disease spreads rapidly in unsanitary conditions. As of early August, 264 cases and 12 deaths have been identified at Dougui refugee settlement in eastern Chad hosting Sudanese arrivals from Darfur.

Surrounding villages have also reported suspected cases, while others have emerged in Treguine settlement, one of many UNHCR camps in eastern Chad that host Sudanese refugees.

Help to contain the disease is urgent, insisted UNHCR’s Dossou Patrice Ahouansou, Principal Situation Coordinator for Eastern Chad.

“We still have more than 230,000 refugees at the border in very difficult situation,” he said.

“Without urgent action including enhancing access to medical treatment, to clean water, to sanitation, to hygiene and most important, relocation from the border, many more lives are on the line.”

As part of the response and to prevent new cases, the UN agency has suspended the relocation of refugees from border points.

UNHCR is seeking $130 million in flexible funding to provide life-saving aid to an estimated 800,000 people in Darfur.

In addition, the UN agency will respond to the cholera outbreak and relocate 239,000 Sudanese refugees from the Chad-Sudan border.

Unexploded weapons alert

Meanwhile, the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) confirmed fears that unexploded ordnance from ongoing battles are killing and maiming non-combatants who are unaware of the extent of the danger.

“The sad reality of this ongoing conflict is it is not happening in rural areas, it’s mainly happening in urban areas, in the areas which are highly populated,” said Mohammad Sediq Rashid, Chief of UNMAS Sudan.

Last week, six minefields were confirmed in Khartoum and three of them contained anti-personnel landmines – the first time this has been reported – he told journalists in Geneva.

“Contamination is on the roads, in homes, in schools and airstrips, medical facilities, humanitarian bases,” the UNMAS official continued.

“This is a population [that] is largely unaware of the dangers that are waiting for them…this problem is only growing every day.”

© UNOCHA/ Samreen Abuidris | OCHA’s Director of Operations and Advocacy, Edem Wosornu, visits a cholera treatment centre in Umdurman, Khartoum, Sudan.

Spotlight on Sudan

In a briefing from Port Sudan for New York-based correspondents on Friday, Edem Wosornu, OCHA’s advocacy director, called for the international community to continue putting the spotlight on the war-ravaged nation, both from a funding and advocacy perspective.

Ms. Wosornu had just returned from Khartoum, where she said the destruction was absolutely devastating.

“It was a decimated city – Khartoum which was once buzzing with life [was] almost a ghost town… I have never seen anything like this before in my almost quarter-of-a-century service to the United Nations.”

Pocket change plea

With the humanitarian plan for Sudan only 23 per cent funded, Ms. Wosornu noted that OCHA is not asking for a lot – only 55 cents per person per day.

“Where we have access, we are able to assist. Where we have safety and security assurances, we are able to assist. Where we have enough supplies and funding, we are able to assist,” she said.

The only real solution to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis is lasting peace, according to Ms. Wosornu.

Therefore, OCHA and other partners continue to negotiate with the Rapid Support Forces in addition to the internationally recognized Sudanese military Government.

“We need this [humanitarian] pause desperately…The people are asking for an end to the war that has killed, maimed and led to significant destruction of life and livelihood.”