SalaaMedia Report

The grave violations committed in Darfur around mid-2003 shocked, the global human conscience and led international organizations to accuse the head of the regime, his military officers, and the militias under his command of committing crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing in the region. Two decades later, the entire country has been plunged into a grinding war that has spread to all regions, where indescribable atrocities have been – and continue to be – committed. Some observers of the conflict attribute the violence in Darfur, to environmental, political, social, and historical factors. These factors include accumulated negligence and marginalization of the region by central governments along with the drought in mid-1980s, which tore Darfur’s social fabric. This, combined with the steady population growth due to high birth rates and migration of desert nomads from the sub-Saharan belt into Darfur in search of land due to the drought, such factors led to the collapse of Darfur’s fragile social fabric. Since then, the fragile relationship between farmers and pastoralists in Darfur began to break down, leading to ethnic conflicts between the region’s components.

Violence escalated and reached the peak in the 2003, by claiming more than 300,000 lives (Alex de Waal, September 22, 2002). The development of the Chad War in 1996, affected Darfur region through ethnic expansion and arms infiltration, traditional local conflicts became deadlier. The policy pursued by the central authority in Khartoum also aggravated local conflicts by using certain groups to suppress the armed movements that were emerging in Darfur at that time. That also led to cooperation between Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in 2003 and launch attacks on Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

Given the sequence of conflicts in Sudan and the scale of destruction and humanitarian disaster they have left behind, some believe the current war is as outcome of all wars since of Sudan’s independence in the middle of the last century.

This report examines the humanitarian disasters caused by the current war over the past six months, focusing on Darfur region.

This report is based on a summary of data and information from SalaaMedia previous reports (July to December 2024). These reports were the primary data source, in addition to updates on the humanitarian situation from recent reports by SalaaMedia’s partners in the “Darfur Speaks to the World” project and open sources. By synthesizing summaries of previous reports, the report follows a methodology combining descriptive and historical approaches.

The report has been divided into several issues/topics according to similarities of subject matters so that the cumulative amount of all issues in the report provides an overall picture of the humanitarian situation in Darfur.

Displacement due to War:

The change of position of the armed movements, who are signatories to Juba Peace Agreement 2020, from neutrality to fighting alongside SAF is considered as turning point in the development war in Darfur. As a result of the position of the armed movements, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) imposed a siege on the Al Fashir town since May 10, 2024, while fighting continued inside and outside the town, causing the displacement of about 689,913 people from the population of Al Fashir alone – by December 2024 – according to the displacement tracking matrix issued by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Dr. Ibrahim Abdullah Khater, the Director General of the Ministry of Health in North Darfur, stated that the number of civilians killed due to the ongoing clashes in Al Fashir from 10 May to 19 June 2024 amounted to about 346 people, while the number of injured reached 2,200. Based on a report by MSF on June 14, 2024, around 1,418 wounded persons arrived at the Southern Hospital and the Saudi Hospital, while the death toll reached 226 people between May 10 and June 11.

Fighting in Al Fashir forced the population to flee to Jebel Marra areas in October 2024, numbering about 2,500 people/ 502 families. According to another report in December 2024, recorded displacement of 510 families/ 2,550 people from the outskirts of Al Fashir to Tawila area and settled in six camps.

Displacement due to Natural Disasters:

In addition to war-related displacement, floods that swept across much of Darfur during 2024 rainy season, forced the displacement of thousands of families. IOM’s Flood Displacement Tracking Matrix showed 37,500 people were displaced by floods and torrential rains from June 1^st to August 12, 2024. In West Darfur alone, at least 20,025 people were displaced from Al Geneina, Baida, Kulbus, Krainink, and Forbaranga. In North Darfur, 12,925 people were displaced from Al Fashir, Tawila, Saraf Umra, Kuma, Kutum, Dar es Salaam, Kabkabiya, Karnoi, Tina, and Sraif. In Central Darfur, some 4,550 people were displaced from Nertiti, Sulo, Wadi Saleh and Bindesi.

A number of displacement camps in Darfur were affected by floods during the past season, including Abu Shok and Zamzam camps. IOM matrix estimated 1,113 houses in Zamzam camp were completely destroyed, while 913 houses were partially damaged. In Abu Shok camp, 170 houses were completely destroyed, and 251 houses and structures were partially damaged. In Shangil Tobai IDP camp in North Darfur, 500 houses and 600 latrines were completely destroyed, while 700 houses and 200 latrines were partially damaged. In Fatabirno camp, the damage was estimated at 181 houses. Residents of Nertiti town reported that floods destroyed approximately 1,100 houses in the northern and southern camps around late July to early August 2024.

Hospitals and Health Centers:

Since the siege of Al Fashir began in May 2024, the health sector infrastructure has been largely destroyed. SalaaMedia has monitored at least 28 health facilities in Al Fashir, both public and private (14 hospitals and 14 health centers).

The most affected hospitals at El Fasher

The ongoing fighting in Al Fashir has pushed most health facilities, including hospitals and health centers, out of service, as confirmed by the director of the Ministry of Health in the region, who said: “The fighting in town since last May has put all hospitals out of service, except the Saudi Hospital for Women and Obstetrics, which now the only hospital dealing with all surgical cases, including orthopedic surgery, women’s and obstetrics”. International reactions continued to highlight the matter of targeting health facilities in Al Fashir since the beginning of the siege, which was one of the reasons that contributed to the Security Council resolution calling on the RSF to lift the siege on the town.

: Destruction of Warehouses

Drug stores and warehouses in various states of Darfur were destroyed and looted. In West Darfur, the two warehouses of the Rotating Medicine, Health Insurance warehouses, Medical Supplies warehouses, the central pharmacy of Zalingei Teaching Hospital, and IMC and NCA warehouses in Central Darfur were destroyed. In Nyala, South Darfur, the Medical Supplies and Rotating Medicine warehouses, and the two warehouses of Ministry of Health and Al Sika Hadeed (railway) neighborhood were also destroyed. Health facilities in East and North Darfur have also been bombed by SAF aircraft and artillery from both sides of the conflict. The Department of Emergency and Epidemiology of the Ministry of Health in South Darfur stated that; the ministry did not receive the rainy season emergency supplies since the war broke out, while the administration of Rehaid Al-Birdi Hospital stated that; late 2022 marks the last quantity of emergency and life-saving medicines they received. The Federal Ministry of Health said it was able to deliver 20 tons of life-saving medicines to North Darfur state in June 2024 through airdrops by SAF warplanes, including (intravenous solutions, life-saving medicines, anesthetics, and various other medical consumables). The Ministry announced arrangements to deliver a more 30 tons of malaria, tuberculosis, AIDS, cancer, kidney dialysis items and transplant supplies.

Interventions to Provide Medicines:

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 26 international agencies working on the health sector in Darfur have provided support to more than 420 health facilities in 47 locations, including 115 facilities in Central Darfur, 114 in North Darfur, 76 in West Darfur, 64 in South Darfur and 53 in East Darfur. WHO said that 70% of the supported facilities are fully operating, 18% are operating partially, in the meantime, they have plans to add more 6% to the operating list, while 5% of health facilities are completely shut down. However, WHO support covers 58% of primary health care centers, 14% of primary health care units, 11% of district health centers, 8% of mobile clinics, and 6% of hospitals.

Meanwhile, Concern Worldwide announced in September 2023 that it had delivered 9 tons of medical supplies to 10 health facilities in Kulbus and Jabal Moon localities in West Darfur state. Louise Foster, the organization’s Director in Sudan, said the health facilities they managed to reached within four months of war, never received any supplies since the fighting began on April 15, as many of them lack essential medicines and malnutrition supplies. SUDO entered into an agreement to provide medicines and medical supplies, active case referral, maintenance of centers, payment of staff incentives, and free treatment services to IDPs, local community, and refugees at Centre Zero in Kalma camp, which hosts South Sudanese refugees.

Deaths of Pregnant Women and Children

Due to the health sector in Darfur being at edge of collapse, it has not been possible to obtain accurate statistics of women who lost their lives during pregnancy due to lack of primary health care over the past period. However, MSF was able to monitor the deaths of 46 pregnant women between January and August 2024 at the hospitals operated by the organization (Nyala Teaching Hospital and Kass Hospital). Sudan Tribune documented three death cases of pregnant women in Nyala town and Otash IDPs camp north of the town. Other death cases because of other causes were reported in East Darfur due to an oil spill and in North Darfur due to lack of access to health services.

Famine:

The declaration of famine early August 2024 was based on the hunger gap and malnutrition in Zamzam camp, which host to some 500,000 IDPs. According to a statement by the Coordination for IDPs and Refugees, the situation in all 171 displacement camps is similar to that in Zamzam, with 20 to 25 people dying in the camps every day. UN and press reports have suggested that famine could occur in large parts of Darfur. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) predicted that more than 430,000 people in the five states of Darfur would enter Phase 5 (disaster) between June 2024 and September. The causes of famine in the region, according to UN officials, can be attributed to ongoing fighting, government obstruction of humanitarian access, natural factors, and border crossing-related issues. Edem Wosorno, Director of Operations at the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told the Security Council that: “Life-saving humanitarian aid was ready to be delivered to the Zamzam camp for displaced people in North Darfur, but the warring parties did not allow it through, and humanitarian workers are unable to access additional supplies in eastern Chad after heavy rains flooded the last cross-border route the Sudanese authorities permitted to transport aid from Tina to save lives against famine.”

International Efforts to Combat Famine:

Toby Harward, the UN’s Deputy Representative for Humanitarian Coordination, said that since the start of the war, the UN at local, national, and global levels, has been calling for unrestricted access to the most affected people. Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program (WFP), said more diplomatic efforts were urgently needed to strengthen the humanitarian response. Meanwhile, Edem Wosorno, of OCHA, noted that; the humanitarian appeal for Sudan is only 32% funded, having received $874 million out of the $2.7 billion requested. (See SalaaMedia report for more details)

Violations:

According to Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Since the beginning of fighting on 15 April, many civilians have been subjected to forced disappearances and arbitrary detention, as well as reports of torture by both sides.” The current war in Sudan has been accompanied by widespread killings, arrests, detentions, and forced disappearances. These violations have affected a large number of civilians in different parts of the country, under various pretexts, including accusations of collaboration with any of the warring parties, negative practices, ethnic and regional motives, among other reasons.

Arrests:

Through SalaaMedia previously published reports, found that the parties involved in arrests, detentions, and forced disappearances in Darfur region varied, considering the different armies and armed factions in the region. Those arrested included journalists, lawyers, activists, human rights defenders from civil society organizations, tribal leaders, internally displaced persons, government officials, and others. Some nine Sudanese journalists have been killed since the war broke out, and dozens more have been arrested and threatened. According to the Sudanese Journalists’ Syndicate, more than 40 journalists have been arrested and detained April 2023.

On 2 May, the Sudanese Teachers Committee said in a press statement that RSF had arrested Dr Adam Ishaq Idris, and on 3 August, Radio Dabanga reported, citing the Darfur Bar Association (DBA), that RSF had arrested the head of its South Darfur branch, lawyer Adam Sharif. In mid-May, SAF intelligence arrested Professor Abdullah Musa Yacoub, director of University of Al Fashir, and Dr Issa Daoud, head of the university’s Centre for Advocacy, Guidance and Reconciliation, according to Darfur24.

Activists, political leaders, and citizens in Al Fashir have also been subjected to arrest campaigns carried out by the intelligence services of the Joint Force of the Armed Movements. In an interview conducted by Darfur24 newspaper, Muhayman Yusuf stated that; he spent 47 days in detention at the former UNAMID headquarters, where he witnessed the death of seven of his fellow detainees due to hunger, sickness, and torture. Darfur24 revealed that other 34 detainees managed to escape from RSF detention after being arrested at different times in the south-eastern neighborhoods of Al Fashir since fighting intensified on 10 May. Sudan War Monitor reported that RSF arrested more than 80 people in Nyala in two weeks on charges of affiliation with the SAF.  

State of Emergency and Violations:

The renewal of the state of emergency by the RSF’s civilian administration in South Darfur has led to numerous violations, including looting and attacks in Nyala’s neighborhoods and on roads linking the town to other localities in the state. According to Darfur 24, armed gangs have been active in Nyala, looting at gunpoint, in addition to incidents of murder and looting. This has led to a high crime rate in the town. Other violations include increasing frequency of arrests of civilians under the pretext of combating so-called negative practices and charges related to cooperation with SAF.

Shelling of IDP camps:

There were more than 45 incidents of artillery shelling and three air strikes on IDP camps and shelters, specially Zamzam camp in North Darfur, Khamsa Daqaeiq camp in Central Darfur, and a shelter center in East Darfur. The attacks so far killed 377 IDPs and injured some 970 others, including women and children, in addition to the complete destruction of IDP camps and shelters in El Geneina town, West Darfur. According to statistics obtained by SalaaMedia Center, Abu Shouk camp was the most affected by shelling and violations, as it witnessed more than 25 shelling incidents that resulted in more than 133 death and 382 injured, marking the highest number of victims compared to the rest of the camps in the region during April to November 2024. Abu Shouk camp is one of the largest IDP camps in the region since the 2003 war, as it is located on the northwestern side of Al Fashir, with an estimate of about 120,000 people, however, it received waves of displaced people after intensification of fighting in Al Fashir in April 2024. About 60% of population fled the camp due to war and destruction of IDPs houses caused by rains and torrents.

Violation of the Right to Free Movement:

While fleeing the hell of war, Darfurians continued to suffer when travelling between towns and villages due to the proliferation of armed robberies and checkpoints on several roads linking towns and villages. Repeated incidents of armed robbery along Nyala-Buram Road prompted RSF to issue orders to close the road. Reports about the number of gates/ checkpoints on Nyala-Kass Road varied from 10 to 40.

Due to the fighting in Al Fashir, residents were only able to flee through five of the roads leading out of the town. A number of traders complained about the number of checkpoints along Tina-Kabkabiya Road, where they pay up to 50,000 Sudanese pounds at each gate, in addition to 2 million pounds to the RSF for each truck.

Disruption of Communications:

As soon as the war broke out, all national telecommunications networks were disrupted, depriving residents of their right to communicate with their loved ones. A few months later, satellite internet services (Starlink) appeared, which helped to solve communication problems and financial transfers through banking applications, but also became an entry point for violations, as civilians at Starlink sites were monitored and arrested on charges of espionage and collaboration the enemy. Owners of satellite Internet sites in Al Fashir reported that in May and October, SAF intelligence service ordered them to close without giving any reason. In early October, RSF informed the displaced people of Kassab camp in Kutum locality, North Darfur, that satellite internet services had been permanently banned in the camp.

Other violations

The Right to Education:

Like the rest of the region’s infrastructure, schools have been destroyed by the war and more than 4,000 schools at all levels of public education have ceased to function. Recently, Sudanese certificate students in Darfur have been unable to sit for exams due to the security situation, and most exam centers are located in other remote states, mostly in SAF-controlled areas.

In terms of higher education, most colleges and universities in the major towns of the five Darfur states are affected; in South Darfur, there are more than 22,000 students in eight universities/colleges. In North Darfur, 33 universities/colleges with nearly 20,000 students, while East Darfur, University of El Daein has more than 14,438 students, according to Dr Sadiq Abdallah, the university’s vice chancellor. There are 12,000 students at University of Zalingei and Sudan Open University in Central Darfur, and more than 5,000 students at University of Geneina in West Darfur.

Economic Restriction:

The Central Bank of Sudan’s decision on 9 November 2024 to change the currency sparked widespread controversy due to its economic and political implications related to the war in the country. The central bank cited a number of reasons for printing the new currency, including drying up the markets of counterfeit and looted currency from banks, businesses, shops, and households. However, the decision may cause additional suffering for civilians in conflict-affected areas, particularly in Darfur region. This expected impact and suffering is a consequence of the Central Bank’s loss of the mechanism and channels of currency exchange in most parts of the country, as a result of the war’s disruption of most of the banking system. As a result of the destruction of the banking sector in Darfur, civilians have become increasingly dependent on banking applications (electronic transactions) to receive and send remittances and financial transactions. This mass reliance on banking applications has faced an obstacle in the form of a steady decline in the volume of cash liquidity due to lack of outlets for currency exchange or withdrawal and cash injection from outside the region; consequently,  the holders of banking application account opted to charge up to 30% of the transferred amounts, against paying off cash to recipients in most parts of the region, taking advantage of the shortage of cash; this has doubled the suffering of citizens dependent on remittances. On the other hand, the civil administrations set up by RSF in Central and South Darfur states, as well as the civil administration in areas controlled by Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM)-Abdul Wahid Nur, issued decisions to reduce the charges rate to 7% in South Darfur, 10% in Central Darfur and 10% in SLM-controlled areas; however, according to SalaaMedia’s follow-up, these decisions have not been respected. The shortage of cash has forced residents of some towns and areas in the region to reinstate the barter system (commodity exchange). Markets in El Geneina, West Darfur, have adopted foreign currencies such as the US Dollar and the Central African Franc to trade and cope with the cash shortage.

Darfur is expected to face cessation of trade using the Sudanese Pound upon the decision to change the currency, especially with neighboring countries, as South Sudanese and Chadian traders requesting to trade only in the new denominations. This condition places a deadly economic, political and social burdens and consequences on citizens, if the process occurs without considering the internationally recognized conditions.

The observations on the accumulation of humanitarian disasters that have struck the region since the beginning of the war do not indicate any decrease of disasters pressure on civilian, but rather the opposite. In the last six months, the humanitarian situation has continued to deteriorate at all levels, as the rate of displacement continues to increase, the area of famine is expanding, perhaps at a lower rate than before due to the interventions of the international community, but it remains a constant threat due to the lack and scarcity of resources, and violations are multiplying and diversifying. As a result, the scale of humanitarian disasters facing civilians in the region might become a hard issue which is difficult to avoid, especially in the absence of any prospects for political solution to end the war in Sudan. Therefore, the starting point which has remained constant since the beginning of the conflict, remains the call to end to the war as the cornerstone of all efforts to provide humanitarian assistance, protection of civilians and, ultimately, reaching a final settlement.