Families fleeing attacks in Sudan's Zamzam camp arrive injured, traumatised, with nothing to eat
Many of the new arrivals, including thousands of children, were already severely malnourished as people in Zamzam – the largest camp for internally displaced people in Sudan - have been living in famine-like conditions for nearly eight months with a siege crippling food supplies and basic services.
Save the Children staff in Tawila said many of the new arrivals reported witnessing or experiencing horrific physical violence with some children separated from their parents in the chaos and now suffering from extreme mental trauma.
Thousands of families are sheltering in open areas or in overcrowded schools and public buildings and exposed to daily temperatures of over 35 degrees Celsius.
Most of the displaced families fled without food or water and are now entirely dependent on humanitarian aid, putting children, pregnant and breastfeeding women at severe risk of malnutrition.
Violent attacks in North Darfur's Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps over the weekend killed more than 300 people, including more than 20 children, and displaced nearly 70,000 families to El Fasher and Tawila, with more than half of those children.
Save the Children is providing emergency support in Tawila to newly displaced families in urgent need of shelter, basic household items, and blankets.
Health facilities in Tawila were already stretched thin before the recent arrivals and are unable to cope with the sheer number of patients, with many people arriving injured, traumatised and sick. A shortage of latrines and limited access to clean water is increasing the risk of waterborne diseases.
Francesco Lanino, the Deputy Country Director for Save the Children Sudan, said:
'This is yet another disaster for families in Sudan who have faced two years of conflict that have caused the world's largest displacement crisis. There is dire need for urgent food distributions, including ready-to-eat meals and nutritional support to curb malnutrition. Provision of shelter and other non-food items is paramount for the new arrivals who are sheltering in schools in open spaces.
'Additionally, there is an urgent need to support or establish mobile health clinics and ensure the availability of essential medicines, first aid supplies, and basic maternal and child health services. With such rapid displacement comes the real risk of waterborne diseases and therefore the need to install additional water sources or rehabilitate existing ones, and construct emergency latrines so as to keep waterborne diseases at bay. Hygiene kits containing soap, sanitary materials, and other essentials are needed to reduce the risk of disease outbreaks.
'We also need to be able to provide mental health and psychosocial support particularly for children and caregivers who have witnessed traumatic events such as killing and maiming of their family members.'
Save the Children is mobilizing pre-positioned stocks of medical supplies and essential relief aid including ready-to-use therapeutic food for malnourished children, hygiene materials and basic household item to support families and children in Tawila.
Save the Children is urgently calling on the international community to take meaningful and urgent political action to address this crisis, for an immediate ceasefire and progress towards a lasting peace agreement.
Save the Children has worked in Sudan since 1983 and provides programming for children and families affected by conflict, displacement, extreme poverty and hunger.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Save the Children.
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