Report: SalaaMedia
Displaced people at camps in Darfur states, have not been spared the hell of the current war, despite the existence of clear provisions in international humanitarian law requiring their protection. The camps that were established as a result of the 2003 war, and the shelter centers in which citizens took refuge after the outbreak of the 2023 war, were subjected to attacks and artillery and air bombardment, by the parties to the war. Which led to hundreds of deaths and injuries and the complete destruction of some shelter centers, in addition to a number of homes and service facilities in the camps. The number of displacement camps in Darfur reached about 176 camps distributed among the five states of the region.
In this report, the Salaamedia team monitored the numbers of dead and wounded in the camps (Abushouk, Zamzam, Al-Hasahisa, Khamsa Daqaq, and Atash). Monitoring is limited to the period between April to November 2023 AD for the camps in the states of South and Central Darfur, and from April to November 2024, for the camps in the states of North and East Darfur. These are the periods within which the frequency of battles increased between the parties to the war in the cities of the region.
Victims and violations
Displacement camps and shelter centers witnessed more than 45 incidents of artillery shelling, and three air strikes targeting the Zamzam camps in North Darfur, Five Daqaiq in Central Darfur, and a shelter center in East Darfur. The attacks resulted in the death of 377 displaced people and the injury of about 970 others, including women and children, in addition to the complete destruction of displacement camps and shelter centers in the city of El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur. The research team found difficulties in obtaining accurate statistics on the number of victims. While statistics obtained by the Salaamedia center indicated that Abu Shouk camp witnessed more than 25 incidents of artillery shelling and deaths by bullets from warring parties. Death continues, with 28 displaced people killed and 47 others injured by stray bullets, during the period from April to September 2023 AD in the Atash camp in Nyala, and more than 202 dead and about 534 injured in the period from April to August 2023 AD in the displacement camps in the city of Zalingei. Including the Hasahisa camp, which witnessed the death of one displaced person and the injury of 13 others as a result of artillery shelling in October 2024 AD.
Violations against civilians in camps for the displaced varied, as a result of armed confrontations between the parties to the war, ranging from killing and injury, in addition to the demolition of homes by artillery or aerial bombardment. This coincided with the occurrence of kidnapping and rape crimes by unidentified armed groups. It affected 11 displaced people from various camps during the month of October 2024 only, according to a report issued by the spokesman for the General Coordination for Displaced Persons and Refugees in Darfur.
Abu Shouk camp
It is clear from the statistics that Abu Shouk camp is the most affected by bombing and violations, as it witnessed more than 25 incidents of artillery shelling, resulting in more than 133 deaths and 382 injuries, which is the largest number of victims compared to the rest of the camps in the region during the period from April to November 2024. Abu Shouk camp is one of the largest displacement camps in the region since the 2003 war. It is located on the northwestern side of the city of El Fasher, and its population is estimated at about 120 thousand people before the war. However, it received waves of displaced people after the intensification of the battles in El Fasher city in April 2024. They also fled. Nearly 60% of its population died due to the war and the widespread destruction caused by rain and floods to the homes of the displaced.
Feedback
The Salaamedia team noted that international and local reactions to the targeting of camps for displaced people in Darfur by war parties were not commensurate with the extent of the violations. The Salaamedia Center monitored that the only international reaction was issued by Ms. Clementine Nkweta Salami, Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator in Sudan, who condemned the killing of six displaced people and the displacement of about 2,300 others, after their shelters were burned during clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces near the Hasahisa camp in Central Darfur. Locally, the Coordination of Democratic and Civil Forces issued a statement condemning the bombing of Zamzam camp in North Darfur. The statement described the events as a lack of commitment to the Jeddah Declaration, whose provisions included the protection of civilians. In the same context, the General Coordination for Displaced Persons and Refugee Camps condemned the aerial and artillery bombardment to which the displaced are subjected and called on the international community and the United Nations to take urgent action to monitor the situation in Darfur. The long wars in Darfur from 2003 until the current war have resulted in very large cases of displacement. The matter became worse after the current war, as shelter centers appeared alongside displacement camps, as the latest manifestations of blatant violations for those fleeing cities immersed in the hell of armed confrontations. Although civilians in Darfur fled to displacement camps and shelter centers in search of safety, battles and armed confrontations of various kinds, including aerial bombardments, continued to follow them wherever they went, extending to the camps in which they took refuge, as if the target of this war were civilians. As a result of the repetition of this targeting, as evidenced by the large numbers of casualties among civilians in camps for the displaced and shelter centers, we find it necessary to stress the utmost importance of demanding measures to protect these victims from the brutality of attacks that do not differentiate between women, children, and the elderly.