Malnourished children in a war-torn refugee camp in Sudan's western Darfur region are at risk of death, an aid group said Sunday. The famine-stricken camp is being forced to ration care for the malnourished because of a blockade imposed by a notorious paramilitary group.
Doctors Without Borders said the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has besieged the town of al-Fasher as part of its war against the Sudanese military, have blocked three trucks carrying vital medical supplies, including therapeutic food, to the town and the nearby Zamzam camp where famine was confirmed last week.
Sudan was plunged into chaos in April last year when simmering tensions between the military and the RSF escalated into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, before spreading across the northeast African country. Darfur has been the scene of some of the worst and most devastating fighting there.
The conflict has killed thousands and left many on the brink of starvation. It has created the world’s largest refugee crisis, with more than 10 million people forced from their homes since April 2023, according to the UN migration agency. More than 2 million of those fleeing have sought refuge in neighboring countries.
International experts at the Famine Review Committee confirmed last Thursday that famine in the Zamzam camp, home to up to 600,000 refugees, had turned into a famine.
International experts use a set of criteria to confirm the existence of a famine. A famine is declared in an area when one in five people or households are experiencing severe food shortages and are facing hunger and destitution that will eventually lead to severe levels of malnutrition and death.
In Zamzam camp, which is overflowing with new arrivals, many children are in critical condition, Doctors Without Borders said. The group said the malnutrition ward at its field hospital in the camp is overcrowded with admissions at 126% of its bed capacity.
The group said RSF members had been blocking trucks in the town of Kabkabiya for more than a month, adding that they were forced to limit the number of children receiving therapeutic food in the overcrowded camp because their medicine reserves were only enough for two weeks.
“Deliberately obstructing or delaying humanitarian cargo puts the lives of thousands of children at risk as they are cut off from life-saving care,” the group said on the social media platform X.
There was no immediate comment from RSF.
The RSF has been laying siege to al-Fasher in a months-long effort to capture the town from the military and allied rebel groups. The town, the capital of North Darfur province, is the military's last stronghold in the war-torn Darfur region. (uh/ab)
