KHARTOUM, Sudan/ISTANBUL
A humanitarian crisis is looming inside displacement camps west of El-Fasher city in western Sudan, as the number of civilians fleeing the city continues to rise amid attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a local medical group warned Wednesday.
The Sudan Doctors Network said in a statement that it is “deeply concerned” about conditions in the camps of Tawila, Kurma, and Golo in North Darfur, which have seen a steady influx from El-Fasher.
Local tallies show the number of new arrivals has exceeded 36,000 in recent days.
The RSF captured El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state and a strategic city in the region, on Oct. 26 and carried out massacres of civilians, according to local and international organizations, triggering warnings that the takeover could cement a geographic partition of the war-torn country.
The network added that several wounded people from El-Fasher reached Golo camp on Tuesday “in critical condition with severe injuries,” while medical services are nearly nonexistent and essential medicines and supplies are in acute shortage.
According to a UN report on Wednesday, fighting in and around El-Fasher displaced more than 450,000 people, many of whom have sought refuge in Tawila. Because of its proximity to the frontlines, services in Tawila are very limited, and operational partners cannot meet the scale of the needs, given the influx of displaced families and individuals.
The movement from El-Fasher has also spilled into other areas. With more internally displaced persons expected, there is a critical need for additional health services and water, sanitation, and hygiene support, including latrines in camps, and assistance for women and children.
Assessments show large numbers of women‐headed households, as male family members, including youths, were detained or killed in El-Fasher. There are reports of about 150 unaccompanied children from the city.
In Golo town’s Souk Al Kadar camp alone, at least 7,129 internally displaced persons' households (about 42,000 people) are currently hosted, with an additional 11,000 households expected from a nearby camp, placing even greater strain on already stretched resources.
Out of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF currently controls all five states of the Darfur region in the west, except some northern areas in North Darfur that remain under army control. The Sudanese army rules over most of the remaining 13 states in the south, north, east, and central regions, including the capital, Khartoum.
Since April 15, 2023, the Sudanese army and the RSF have been locked in a war that regional and international mediations have failed to end. The conflict has killed thousands of people and displaced millions of others.