Refugees grapple with hunger and cholera in Sudan's displacement camps
"We mix lemon in the water when we have it and drink it as medicine," said Mona Ibrahim, who has been living for two months in a hastily-erected camp in Tawila.
"We have no other choice," she told AFP, seated on the bare ground.
Adam is one of nearly half a million people who sought shelter in and around Tawila, from the nearby besieged city of El-Fasher and the Zamzam displacement camp in April, following attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), at war with Sudan's regular army since April 2023.
Surging through the camps
The first cholera cases in Tawila were detected in early June in the village of Tabit, about 25 kilometres south, said Sylvain Penicaud, a project co-ordinator for French charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
"After two weeks, we started identifying cases directly in Tawila, particularly in the town's displacement camps," he told AFP.
In the past month, more than 1,500 cases have been treated in Tawila alone, he said, while the UN's children agency says around 300 of the town's children have contracted the disease since April.
Across North Darfur state, more than 640,000 children under the age of five are at risk, according to UNICEF.
By July 30, there were 2,140 infections and at least 80 deaths across Darfur, UN figures show.
Sudan: 25 million people acutely food insecure, according to the WHO
04:03
Cholera is a highly contagious bacterial infection that causes severe diarrhoea and spreads through contaminated water and food.
Causing rapid dehydration, it can kill within hours if left untreated, yet it is preventable and usually easily treatable with oral rehydration solutions.
More severe cases require intravenous fluids and antibiotics.
The World Health Organization said last week that cholera "has swept across Sudan, with all states reporting outbreaks". It said nearly 100,000 cases had been reported across the country since July 2024.
UNICEF also reported over 2,408 deaths across 17 of Sudan's 18 states since August 2024.
Ibrahim Adam Mohamed Abdallah, UNICEF's executive director in Tawila, told AFP his team "advises people to wash their hands with soap, clean the blankets and tarps provided to them and how to use clean water".
But in the makeshift shelters of Tawila, patched together from thin branches, scraps of plastic and bundles of straw, even those meagre precautions are out of reach.
'No soap, no toilets, no choice'
Insects cluster on every barely washed bowl, buzzing over the scraps of already meagre meals.
Haloum Ahmed, who has been suffering from severe diarrhoea for three days, said "there are so many flies where we live".
Water is often fetched from nearby natural sources – often contaminated – or from one of the few remaining shallow, functional wells.
It "is extremely worrying", said MSF's Penicaud, but "those people have no (other) choice".
Sitting beside a heap of unwashed clothes on the dusty ground, Ibrahim said no one around "has any soap".
"We don't have toilets – the children relieve themselves in the open," she added.
"We don't have food. We don't have pots. No blankets – nothing at all," said Fatna Essa, another 50-year-old displaced woman in Tawila.
The UN has repeatedly warned of food insecurity in Tawila, where aid has trickled in, but nowhere near enough to feed the hundreds of thousands who go hungry.
'Overwhelmed'
Sudan's conflict, now in its third year, has killed tens of thousands and created the world's largest displacement and hunger crises, according to the United Nations.
In Tawila, health workers are trying to contain the cholera outbreak – but resources are stretched thin.
MSF has opened a 160-bed cholera treatment centre in Tawila, with plans to expand to 200 beds.
A second unit has also been set up in Daba Nyra, one of the most severely affected camps. But both are already overwhelmed, said Penicaud.
Meanwhile, aid convoys remain largely paralysed by the fighting and humanitarian access has nearly ground to a halt.
Armed groups – particularly the RSF – have blocked convoys from reaching those in need.
Meanwhile, the rainy season, which peaks this month, may bring floodwaters that further contaminate water supplies and worsen the crisis.
Any flooding could "heighten the threat of disease outbreaks", warned UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
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France 24
3 days ago
- France 24
At least 40 dead in Sudan's worst cholera outbreak in years: MSF
The medical charity said the vast western region, which has been a major battleground over more than two years of fighting between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, had been hardest hit by the year-old outbreak. "On top of an all-out war, people in Sudan are now experiencing the worst cholera outbreak the country has seen in years," MSF said in a statement. "In the Darfur region alone, MSF teams treated over 2,300 patients and recorded 40 deaths in the past week." The NGO said 2,470 cholera-related deaths had been reported in the year to August 11, out of 99,700 suspected cases. Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that spreads through food and water contaminated with bacteria, often from faeces. It causes severe diarrhoea, vomiting and muscle cramps. Cholera can kill within hours when not attended to, though it can be treated with simple oral rehydration, and antibiotics for more severe cases. There has been a global increase in cholera cases, which have also spread geographically, since 2021. MSF said mass displacements of civilians sparked by the war in Sudan had aggravated the outbreak by denying people access to clean water for essential hygiene measures, such as washing dishes and food. "The situation is most extreme in Tawila, North Darfur state, where 380,000 people have fled to escape ongoing fighting around the city of El-Fasher, according to the United Nations," MSF said. "In Tawila, people survive with an average of just three litres of water per day, which is less than half the emergency minimum threshold of 7.5 litres needed per person per day for drinking, cooking, and hygiene." Contaminated water Since forces loyal to the regular army recaptured the capital Khartoum in March, fighting has again focused on Darfur, where the paramilitaries have been attempting to take El-Fasher. The besieged pocket is the last major city in the western region still under the army's control and UN agencies have spoken of appalling conditions for the remaining civilians trapped inside. "In displacement and refugee camps, families often have no choice but to drink from contaminated sources and many contract cholera," said Sylvain Penicaud, MSF project coordinator in Tawila. "Just two weeks ago, a body was found in a well inside one of the camps. It was removed, but within two days, people were forced to drink from that same water again." MSF said that heavy rains were worsening the crisis by contaminating water and damaging sewage systems, while the exodus of civilians seeking refuge was spreading the disease. "As people move around to flee fighting, cholera is spreading further, in Sudan and into neighbouring Chad and South Sudan," it said. MSF's head of mission in Sudan, Tuna Turkmen, said the situation was "beyond urgent". "The outbreak is spreading well beyond displacement camps now, into multiple localities across Darfur states and beyond," he said.
France 24
5 days ago
- France 24
Refugees grapple with hunger and cholera in Sudan's displacement camps
Cholera is ripping through the refugee camps of Tawila in Darfur in western Sudan, where hundreds of thousands of people have been left with nothing but the water they can boil, to serve as both disinfectant and medicine. "We mix lemon in the water when we have it and drink it as medicine," said Mona Ibrahim, who has been living for two months in a hastily-erected camp in Tawila. "We have no other choice," she told AFP, seated on the bare ground. Adam is one of nearly half a million people who sought shelter in and around Tawila, from the nearby besieged city of El-Fasher and the Zamzam displacement camp in April, following attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), at war with Sudan's regular army since April 2023. Surging through the camps The first cholera cases in Tawila were detected in early June in the village of Tabit, about 25 kilometres south, said Sylvain Penicaud, a project co-ordinator for French charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF). "After two weeks, we started identifying cases directly in Tawila, particularly in the town's displacement camps," he told AFP. In the past month, more than 1,500 cases have been treated in Tawila alone, he said, while the UN's children agency says around 300 of the town's children have contracted the disease since April. Across North Darfur state, more than 640,000 children under the age of five are at risk, according to UNICEF. By July 30, there were 2,140 infections and at least 80 deaths across Darfur, UN figures show. Sudan: 25 million people acutely food insecure, according to the WHO 04:03 Cholera is a highly contagious bacterial infection that causes severe diarrhoea and spreads through contaminated water and food. Causing rapid dehydration, it can kill within hours if left untreated, yet it is preventable and usually easily treatable with oral rehydration solutions. More severe cases require intravenous fluids and antibiotics. The World Health Organization said last week that cholera "has swept across Sudan, with all states reporting outbreaks". It said nearly 100,000 cases had been reported across the country since July 2024. UNICEF also reported over 2,408 deaths across 17 of Sudan's 18 states since August 2024. Ibrahim Adam Mohamed Abdallah, UNICEF's executive director in Tawila, told AFP his team "advises people to wash their hands with soap, clean the blankets and tarps provided to them and how to use clean water". But in the makeshift shelters of Tawila, patched together from thin branches, scraps of plastic and bundles of straw, even those meagre precautions are out of reach. 'No soap, no toilets, no choice' Insects cluster on every barely washed bowl, buzzing over the scraps of already meagre meals. Haloum Ahmed, who has been suffering from severe diarrhoea for three days, said "there are so many flies where we live". Water is often fetched from nearby natural sources – often contaminated – or from one of the few remaining shallow, functional wells. It "is extremely worrying", said MSF's Penicaud, but "those people have no (other) choice". Sitting beside a heap of unwashed clothes on the dusty ground, Ibrahim said no one around "has any soap". "We don't have toilets – the children relieve themselves in the open," she added. "We don't have food. We don't have pots. No blankets – nothing at all," said Fatna Essa, another 50-year-old displaced woman in Tawila. The UN has repeatedly warned of food insecurity in Tawila, where aid has trickled in, but nowhere near enough to feed the hundreds of thousands who go hungry. 'Overwhelmed' Sudan's conflict, now in its third year, has killed tens of thousands and created the world's largest displacement and hunger crises, according to the United Nations. In Tawila, health workers are trying to contain the cholera outbreak – but resources are stretched thin. MSF has opened a 160-bed cholera treatment centre in Tawila, with plans to expand to 200 beds. A second unit has also been set up in Daba Nyra, one of the most severely affected camps. But both are already overwhelmed, said Penicaud. Meanwhile, aid convoys remain largely paralysed by the fighting and humanitarian access has nearly ground to a halt. Armed groups – particularly the RSF – have blocked convoys from reaching those in need. Meanwhile, the rainy season, which peaks this month, may bring floodwaters that further contaminate water supplies and worsen the crisis. Any flooding could "heighten the threat of disease outbreaks", warned UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
France 24
07-08-2025
- France 24
WHO says nearly 100,000 struck with cholera in Sudan
Since April 2023, Sudan has been torn apart by a power struggle between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, commander of the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The fighting has killed tens of thousands. "In Sudan, unrelenting violence has led to widespread hunger, disease and suffering," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. "Cholera has swept across Sudan, with all states reporting outbreaks. Nearly 100,000 cases have been reported since July last year." Oral cholera vaccination campaigns had been conducted in several states, including the capital Khartoum, he told a press conference with the Geneva UN correspondents' association ACANU. "While we are seeing a declining trend in numbers, there are gaps in disease surveillance, and progress is fragile," he said. "Recent floods, affecting large parts of the country, are expected to worsen hunger and fuel more outbreaks of cholera, malaria, dengue and other diseases." Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that spreads through food and water contaminated with bacteria, often from faeces. It causes severe diarrhoea, vomiting and muscle cramps. Cholera can kill within hours when not attended to, though it can be treated with simple oral rehydration, and antibiotics for more severe cases. There has been a global increase in cholera cases, and their geographical spread, since 2021. Malnutrition As for hunger, Tedros said there were reports from El-Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur state, that people were eating animal feed to survive. Across the country, millions are going hungry and around 770,000 children under five years old are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year. "In the first six months of this year, nutrition centres supported by WHO have treated more than 17,000 severely malnourished children with medical complications. But many more are beyond reach," Tedros warned. The UN health agency's efforts were being held back by limited access and a lack of funding, he added, with the WHO having received less than a third of the money it has appealed for to provide urgent health assistance in Sudan. The WHO director-general said that as long as the violence continues in Sudan, "we can expect to see more hunger, more displacement and more disease".
