UN presence in Sudan ‘in a precarious situation’ -IOM

"The fierce fighting between the Sudanese army and rebel RSF forces risks reaching the UN bases in the east of the country, warns the head of IOM, the UN migration agency in the country, sharing his frustration at being unable to reach the millions of civilians in desperate need of humanitarian assistance". Read more.

From UN News
Dated Wednesday, 17 January 2024 - excerpts:

UN presence in Sudan ‘in a precarious situation’, says IOM country chief

IOM 2023 IOM teams are assessing the needs of Sudanese refugees on the Chad–Sudan border

Since the fighting began in April of last year, about half a million people have fled into neighbouring South Sudan, one of the poorest countries in the world, and thousands more are expected to follow the exodus. The UN has shared reports of horrific abuse and widespread rights violations. Loaded trucks have been unable to bring aid supplies because of fierce fighting. Drivers have been beaten and extorted for money, and aid workers have been detained and killed.

Peter Kioy, the Sudan Chief of Mission for IOM, spoke to Conor Lennon from UN News from his temporary base in the eastern city of Port Sudan about the dangerous situation facing the Sudanese people and the humanitarian workers trying to support them.

© WFP/Eulalia Berlanga South Sudanese returnees arrive at the Joda border point in Upper Nile State.

Peter Kioy: The humanitarian community has no capacity to oversee or access the areas where people are fleeing to or fleeing from, which makes it really difficult for us to ensure the international protection rights that they are entitled to. The lack of humanitarian aid makes them more vulnerable. Access remains one of the key issues for the humanitarian community in Sudan; we need more secure access for humanitarian actors. Both sides agreed to allow humanitarian access during peace talks, but they are still not delivering on that.

UN News: Do you still have people on the ground?

Peter Kioy: In some areas, we don't have people because it’s too dangerous, and the humanitarian space is shrinking. Recently, the conflict reached Al Jazirah state and White Nile state, which meant that humanitarian actors had to move out. Truck drivers do not feel secure going into some of those localities to deliver aid.

IOM Thousands of people have arrived at Metema, the border town between Sudan and Ethiopia, since fighting in Sudan erupted on 15 April 2023.

UN News: How have IOM staff been affected?

Peter Kioy: A staff member was killed at the onset of the crisis, and we had to regroup around our eastern offices in Kassala, Al Qadarif and Port Sudan.

However, we don’t know for how long. The RSF have said that they’re making their way east towards Port Sudan as well. We don’t know how quickly they will advance, so we remain in a precarious situation, where we don’t know what will happen in the next two months or even the next two weeks.

For now, the situation in Port Sudan remains relatively stable and calm, but it is a probably a false calm because we’re not sure of what is happening in and around the city.

So, we remain vigilant in case we find ourselves in a similar situation to Khartoum.

 

UN News: Can you describe the evacuation from Khartoum in April 2023

Peter Kioy: I think it’s a situation you would not want to find yourself in again. 

It was chaotic. Bullets flying all around, people unable to move and seeking shelter under the furniture in their houses, hiding in corners and hoping that no stray bullets come through the windows.

No one expected that Khartoum would bear the brunt of the fighting, and so the necessary security measures were not in place. This made it very scary, especially for those who had family.

It was a nightmare that no one would want to live through or wish on others.

I remember that we were trying to coordinate our staff to get them to the gathering sites for the evacuation. It was difficult even in the relatively calm areas because of the number of rebel and government checkpoints. We didn’t know how the soldiers would react.

UN News: What is morale like amongst the UN teams in Port Sudan?

We have stayed behind to deliver aid, and we have the capacity, but we do not have access to the people who are in need of our support, and that has become frustrating.

There are pockets of hope. We managed, for example, to bring in cross-border support from Chad into Darfur and deliver some vital humanitarian aid. But, it still remains a challenge, and we hope that with the ongoing negotiations greater access can be granted to the humanitarian community at large.

View original: https://news.un.org/en/interview/2024/01/1145602

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MSF Sudan: Severe humanitarian needs after half a million people flee violence in Wad Madani, Aj Jazhira

“Because of the violent clashes and the crisis... we went to Khartoum. But the war followed us to Khartoum, so we went to Wad Madani. And then, the story continues.” -Maha, a displaced woman in Tanideba camp X

Report from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) aka Doctors Without Borders

Project Update 

Dated Monday, 15 January 2024 - here is a copy in full:

Severe humanitarian needs after half a million people flee violence in Wad Madani

A displaced woman holds her child as she takes refuge in Alsafat Camp in Al Jazirah state. “I'm worried about the future of my children. I'm thinking about returning to Abyei so that I could provide an education for my children. But if the war comes to an end I'll return to Khartoum and my house as soon as possible, and my husband will be able to work,” she says. Sudan, December 2023. © FAIS ABUBAKR X

On 15 December, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched an attack on Wad Madani, Sudan, and took control of several other cities and areas in Al Jazirah state within days. Since then, more than half a million people have fled the fighting and insecurity, including about 234,000 displaced people who had previously sought refuge in Wad Madani as violence in Khartoum intensified.  

The chaos following the evolving conflict and the severe insecurity and widespread violence created an environment in which Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) could no longer operate in Wad Madani. 

As a result, we had to suspend all activities and evacuate our staff from Wad Madani on 19 December, leaving behind people with even less access to basic medical services. We also had to evacuate staff from Damazine, Um Rakuba in Gedaref state, and Doka. In Damazine, we reduced activities.

Our teams had been present in Wad Madani since May 2023. Conditions were already dire for the half a million displaced people living there, which made up 8 per cent of all internally displaced people in Sudan. Sudan was already home to the world’s largest internal displacement crisis, with more than six million people forced from their homes within the country in addition to more than 1.4  million who have fled across borders. 

Between May and November, our teams performed 18,390 medical consultations (40 per cent of them for children under 15 years old) in several of the hundreds of locations hosting displaced people across the state of Al Jazirah, some in schools or old public buildings.  

Through our mobile clinics, our teams diagnosed and referred 66 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition with serious complications in the past six months – cases that could be fatal if not treated in a hospital urgently.

Sarah Deink holds her child as they take refuge in Alsafat Camp in Al Jazirah state. “I'm worried about the future of my children. I'm thinking about returning to Abyei so that I could provide an education for my children,” she says. Sudan, December 2023. FAIS ABUBAKR SHARE

“Health facilities were overwhelmed. As the number of people in the city had increased by 30 per cent, there were more and more patients, but considerable supply and staffing challenges,” says Slaymen Ammar, MSF medical coordinator for Sudan

“And as prices soared for all goods, access to lifesaving services was an obstacle for both displaced people and regular residents. Nowadays, with the departure of most international organisations – and despite efforts from local volunteer health workers – we can only assume it has worsened.” 

During the past month, in Gedaref and Kassala states – where we have been operational since 2021 in response to the Ethiopian Tigray crisis – MSF teams witnessed the arrival of thousands of people from Wad Madani, and are currently assessing and responding to the escalating health and humanitarian needs. 

In Tanideba (Gedaref), we have started a short-term emergency intervention for newly displaced Ethiopian refugees and newly displaced Sudanese citizens, covering basic healthcare, water and sanitation, as well as food rations. This included one-off distributions and donations. However, activities in Tanideba were temporarily reduced due to the escalation of conflict in Wad Madani.

AL BAKRI AL TAHER MALIK, A DISPLACED MAN FROM KHARTOUM, HAS BEEN INJURED TWICE BY THE FIGHTING IN SUDAN. 

“The war brought nothing but destruction and the separation of families. We lost our home, and we lost our city Khartoum. I lost my nephew. He died on the first day of Ramadan by a shell. He was divided into three parts.”

Al Bakri Al Taher Malik sits in a shelter for displaced people in Wad Madani, Al Jazirah state. He has been injured and displaced multiple times due to the conflict in Sudan. Sudan, December 2023. 

© FAIS ABUBAKR

The conflict in Sudan has caused immeasurable suffering, displaced millions, killed thousands, and injured countless others. For many displaced people, Gedaref and Kassala are just the latest stops in a long journey to seek safety, during which they have suffered violence and been without basic items, such as food, clean water, sanitation and access to medical care.  

“We are originally from Darfur, but because of the violent clashes and the crisis over there, we went to Khartoum. But the war followed us to Khartoum, so we went to Wad Madani. And then, the story continues,” says Maha*, a displaced woman who arrived with her family in Tanideba camp two weeks ago from Wad Madani.

Maha and her family fled Khartoum eight months ago, after shelling hit their home and severely injured one of Maha’s children.  

“We were six people in the house, and at that time I was nine months pregnant. Our house was destroyed. I was hit on my arm, but my child got a much worse injury on his head,” says Maha. 

“We managed to take him to the hospital because he needed urgent lifesaving surgery. But as soon as he was discharged, we had to flee the city because of insecurity. We arrived to the camp in Wad Madani, and I delivered there,” she says.

MARRY MONGA AND HER CHILDREN WERE FORCED TO FLEE THEIR HOME IN KHARTOUM.

“My baby is one-month old, but he doesn't look it because I don't have any milk. When I think about the future, I want my children to receive an education. I don't want my children to go through what we went through.”

Marry Monga sits with her one-month-old baby in Alsafat Camp in Al Jazirah state. She fled Khartoum on 15 May due to violence and insecurity there. Sudan, 12 December 2023. © FAIS ABUBAKR

In mid-December, Maha and her family fled once again to Tanideba.

“Clashes started and we began hearing sounds of fires and armed men fighting again. We decided to leave immediately. I started thinking about where we should go. Nowhere was safe at that time.” 

In a region where healthcare and essential medicine were already extremely limited, displaced people are now suffering from growing health demands, stemming from direct and indirect effects of violence. Basic needs are not being met and an urgent response is desperately needed.  

“At the gathering sites in Kassala city, people who have been displaced told our teams they haven’t received any assistance since their arrival in mid to late December,” says Pauline Lenglart, MSF emergency project coordinator in Sudan.  

“Families are sleeping on the ground, access to healthcare is still severely restricted, there are few working medical facilities and medicines aren't provided for free,” says Lenglart. 

“Many people have told us that they are unable to afford items like food and medicine, forcing them to choose between these necessities. Our team is constantly evaluating the needs at new sites that are opening to house recently displaced people. 

“In all these places, we see that the amount of humanitarian assistance provided is still woefully inadequate to meet people’s basic needs and ensure dignified living conditions,” says Lenglart. 

*Name changed to protect identity. 

View original, explore accessibility options: https://www.msf.org/sudan-severe-humanitarian-needs-after-half-million-people-flee-violence-wad-madani 

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