Khartoum: Europe and the Arabs

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that armed violence in Al-Jazeera State, near Khartoum, is putting the lives of tens of thousands of people at risk. The International Organization for Migration reported that more than 343,000 men, women and children have been displaced from the state in less than a month amid escalating clashes and ongoing insecurity.

Most of the displaced have fled to the neighboring states of Gedaref and Kassala, where the United Nations and its humanitarian partners are working with host communities to provide them with emergency assistance. According to the United Nations daily news bulletin, a copy of which we received on Saturday morning,

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that armed violence and attacks in Al-Jazeera State in Sudan highlight the brutality of the war that has been going on for about 19 months, amid reports of mass rapes, killings and widespread looting.

In less than two weeks, the fighting in Al-Jazeera State has forced more than 135,000 people to flee their homes, the vast majority of whom have been displaced to the neighboring states of Gedaref and Kassala.
Members of the UN office visited the sites where the newly displaced people are sheltering – where aid workers are providing them with much-needed assistance – and spoke to them about what they had witnessed.

Mr. Sayed, a 70-year-old displaced man, said that his children had carried him on the journey of displacement because of his disability, which prevented him from moving. He added: “What made me leave was the violations we experienced, the demolition of homes, the thefts and rapes. The situation was very, very bad. I was carried on the shoulders of my children for 40 hours in this wheelchair.”

He pointed to the large number of people standing around him, saying that they had all come from the island on foot, and that some had walked for 3 or 10 days, and that some people had died during the displacement due to fatigue and thirst. Mrs. Nidal, 35, said that everyone was exhausted and needed a lot of outside support: “We need beds. People are sleeping on the floor and some are sick and can’t stand this situation. We need clothes. Some of us left our homes with the clothes we were wearing and nothing else. We also need blankets.”

Regarding the attacks she witnessed in her area, Mrs. Nidal said: “They attacked every house on the island. They took the clothes of the poor from the closets and wore them, and they stole the sweets that the women were selling to feed their children.”

Another elderly person, 62 years old, spoke of the many problems faced by displaced people like him: “We suffer from hunger and thirst. The children are the ones who suffered the most and the women are also sick. We have lost many lives and many are still missing and we have not found them yet.” Admore Tundlana, Deputy Head of Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan, stressed the importance of a ceasefire and for the Sudanese people to return to their normal lives. “Let’s build Sudan again. There are so many children whose education has been affected. This is a generation that we will lose. Many aspects of life have been affected and we need to return to normal life.”

Lukuju Peter, Head of Office for OCHA in Kassala, said that last year there were three waves of displacement from Al-Jazirah and Sennar, tripling the number in eastern Sudan. He stressed the urgent need for humanitarian agencies and government authorities to help those displaced to eastern Sudan with shelter, water and health care.

Since the start of the conflict in Sudan, some 11.5 million people have been displaced either within the country or across borders.