High death rates from hunger in IDPs camps in South Darfu … (grasses and locusts ) are the key meal for the population

Kampala, Neyala, Sudanese Echoes

By Al-Fatih Bahlol

Unofficial reports painted a bleak picture of the conditions of the internal displacement camps (IDPs) in South Darfur State, which has been suffering from a severe shortage of food and medicine. The reports revealed the death of dozens of displaced persons, particuraly children and the elderly, from hunger in the IDPs camps in South Darfur State, which have been controlled by the insurgent Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Militia since October 2023. The state includes five official camps for the displaced persons, which are (Kalma, Atash, Al-Sareif, Dereij and Al-Salam).

The social activist in the Legal Aides Network, Igbal Hussein Ahmed (Atash Camp) told (Sudanese Echoes) that the humanitarian situation in the camps for the displaced people in South Darfur is catastrophic due to the severe shortage of food, medicine and shelter materials as a result of the famine that has struck the camps. She pointed out that there is a sharp rise in the prices of food in the markets, adding that obtaining them has become difficult, noting that the most affected are women, children and the elderly, in addition to those with special needs, affirming the existence of a number of death cases among the displaced persons.

Weeds and Locusts

For his part, the Head of the Youth of Al-Salam IDPs Camp, Adam Ishag Adam, stressed that (locusts) have become a meal, due to the lack of food supplies. He added that after the fall season, the residents have become dependent on some weeds that grow in the rainy season (such as tameleika- a type of local grass or Molokhia (mallow)) that are cooked for children to lick them, pointing out that there are widespread cases of malnutrition among children and there are deaths due to that as there is no health care for pregnant women for the departure of humanitarian organizations.

Diseases outbreak

For her part, the member of the Protection Network for Displaced Persons, Munira Abdal-Hadi Mursal (Dreij camp), asserted that the camp suffers from a lack of food, revealing that food is at a rate of only one meal a day.

High rates of theft

In the same context, Halima Adam Ali Suleiman (Kalma camp) indicated that the camp is witnessing extremely difficult conditions these days due to the famine that struck the camp, which resulted in high rates of theft crimes and lack of security in the city.

Days without Food

Meanwhile, Zeina Shamain (Atash camp), underlined that the situation in the camp is difficult, saying that she and those with her have nothing to eat, explaining that she is sponsoring (11) individuals, adding that there are cases worse than her family’s situation, where they spend two days without food or drink.