Almost a month has passed since the harrowing assault on the Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur, yet tens of thousands of survivors are still languishing in Tawila. They face staggering shortages of essential supplies: food, water, shelter, and medical care are all in disconcerting demand.
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As hostilities engulf the vicinity of el-Fasher, fresh waves of displaced families arrive daily, many in grave condition, as observed by the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
The catastrophe of April, allegedly orchestrated by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), left Zamzam devastated. This camp, grappling with famine since August 2024, had already been a battleground of survival.
Those who escaped bear deep scars of malnutrition, injury, and trauma. Medical facilities, including the MSF-backed hospital in Tawila, have become inundated.
“They came with their machineguns. They attacked and killed people – including children,” recounted Mariam, a 40-year-old mother who fled with her family of 20. “Before the attack, people were already dying of thirst and hunger.” Now, Mariam’s family clings to life under a makeshift shelter, sharing a single blanket and jerrycan of water.
Once-empty fields around Tawila now teeming with displaced families echo tales of their traumatic escape – from looting to extrajudicial killings.
Ibrahim, a resilient man, journeyed on foot for five days carrying two children. “We’re lacking water, shelter… everyone is hungry,” he lamented.
The humanitarian aid framework in Tawila strains under pressure. MSF has erected health posts to offer emergency care, but the demand relentlessly outpaces their resources.
Within just three weeks, MSF treated 779 patients, of which 138 were children, suffering from gunshot wounds and blast injuries. A heartbreaking case involved a 7-month-old infant struck by a bullet.
“The emergency room was overwhelmed,” noted Tiphaine Salmon, MSF’s head nurse. “At one point, there were four patients to a bed.”
Children arriving from Zamzam are especially vulnerable. Admissions for severe malnutrition in MSF’s intensive therapeutic feeding center surged tenfold following April 12. Many children arrive unaccompanied—separated from parents or orphaned.
Adding to the calamity is a suspected measles outbreak, initially detected in Tawila in March. MSF has treated over 900 cases, with 300 requiring hospitalization.
Despite a colossal vaccination drive that reached 18,000 children, fresh cases are detected among the newcomers from Zamzam, which indicates the outbreak is spreading within displacement sites.
In these overcrowded dwellings devoid of basic sanitation and clean water, the combination of measles and malnutrition poses a lethal threat to young children. The health risks, MSF warns, are intensifying by the day.
Humanitarian organizations are ramping up their efforts. MSF currently supplies 100,000 liters of clean water daily, distributes 16,000 meals via local kitchens, and plans to erect 300 latrines. Nevertheless, the aid is sorely insufficient. Even as a mass food distribution effort unwinds, resources are perilously stretched.
MSF has called for an urgent escalation of response from United Nations agencies to tackle the burgeoning crisis in Tawila.
Without immediate intervention, aid workers fear the grim prospect of many more deaths, not from the violence they fled, but from the dire humanitarian breakdown ensnaring the survivors.
Edited By Ali Musa
Axadle Times International – Monitoring
