The Sudanese authorities and humanitarian organisations should uphold thier responsabilty to remedy the situation in the camp, at least in response to the repeated appeals since the start of the flood disaster.

The sudanense government and international community should not leave the issue of the IDPs for a long time, without durable solutions, leaving the IPDs commnuities as vulnerable to more climate disasters.  

Despite thirteen years of UN Peacekeeping and tens of billions of dollars spent in aid, violence and conflict-driven displacement are nearing a ten-year high in Darfur, Sudan.

The United Nations–African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID) patrol ended on 1 January 2021, leaving behind a security vacuum at a time of intense political stability.

Since UNAMID’s mandate termination, humanitarian needs and bloody inter-communal violence across the region escalated, displacing an estimated 260,000 Darfuris, more than four times the number of Darfuris displaced by conflict in all of 2020 and the largest figure reported in Darfur in a single year since 2014.

In Sudan. the heavy rain from May to the end of the September 2022 also brought flooding that affected around 349,000 people, destroyed at least 24,800 homes and damaged another 48,200 homes in 16 out of the 18 states. The most-affected states were South Darfur, al-Qadarif, Central Darfur, White Nile, and Kassala, followed by West Darfur, River Nile, North Kordofan, al-Jazirah, West Kordofan, South Kordofan, Sennar, and East Darfur. Khartoum and North Darfur states were less impacted.

The IDPs camps, the locus one of the world’s most-neglected crises of 2021, were inundated and suffered 146 fatalities and more than 122 people injured since the beginning of the rainy season in June. And all this came amid skyrocketing prices and gaps in humanitarian funding.

The situation in the five Darfur states became tragic. The destruction of farms and farmland is particularly devastating, because Sudan’s agricultural season is already under threat and, with the economic crisis, rising inflation and political instability, Sudan’s food security is under threat. Already before the floods, 64% of IDP households in Darfur were food insecure.

This situation sheds light on the neglect of this vulnerable population already undergoing human-made disaster of politicized ethnic conflict. Natural resources are being depleted around camps as result of the relief assistance gap. Disputes over land use in Darfur have had serious environmental consequences amid what has been labeled the “first climate change conflict.”[i]

Land governance is failed in many parts of the country, but is key to any peace, including durable solutions for IDPs and sustainable development for all. In all states of the Darfur region, only North Darfur has a land-use plan. The duties lie with local and central, as well as formal and traditional authorities, while all have fallen under the long shadow of military rule. Meanwhile, climate change and its destructive consequences wait for no one.

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Sudan floods: No sign of relief from torrential rains as 23 more people die

DabangaSudan.org

No sign of relief from ongoing rains and floods in Sudan as torrential rains caused the death of 22 people in Darfur and one person in northern Sudan. In South Darfur, 16,000 homes were completely destroyed.

The humanitarian disaster unfolding in Sudan due to ongoing torrential rains and floods is not showing many signs of improvement yet. In Darfur alone, 22 people died. A few days ago, the death toll from the floods in Sudan was 89.

South Darfur and El Gezira in eastern Sudan have been hit particularly hard so far.

In El Managil, in El Gezira, the the Sadagaat Charity Organisation reported that “despite the great efforts made to help our people affected by the floods in El Managil, the team of the Sadagaat Charity Organisation and several other parties, has not been able to reach the people in the area, because the floods destroyed a number of roads”.

“The heavy rainfall last night made the situation even worse,” the charity explained.

South Darfur

The South Darfur Civil Defence Department stated yesterday that the floods caused erosion and destruction of farms located near valleys in Beleil, Kass, Ed El Fursan, Gereida, Um Dafug, and El Radoom.

Acting South Darfur Governor Hamed Hanoun visited the affected areas. There, people demanded the state government declare the state a disaster area, as happened with El Managil in El Gezira, because of the tragic conditions in which those affected by the floods now have to live.

The destruction of farms and farmland is particularly worrying because Sudan’s agricultural season is already under threat and, with the economic crisis and rising inflation, Sudan’s food security is in peril.

Many farmers live in camps for the displaced after decades of violence and genocide against Darfuri farmers. Camps for the Darfuri displaced have been severely affected by flooding in Darfur and neighbouring Chad.

Kalma camp for the displaced has been affected particularly severely and the humanitarian conditions in the camp continue to deteriorate.

On Tuesday, floods caused by torrential rains swept through Kalma camp for the displaced, east of South Darfur’s capital Nyala, and destroyed a large number of homes of displaced people, who now have to live in the open.

The newly destroyed homes come on top of the roughly 7,500 homes destroyed the week before, which already affected 20,000 families. Most of those affected are without shelter or food.

With 300,000 residents, Kalma camp is one of the largest internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in the region.

In a statement yesterday, the camp leaders condemned “the failure of the Sudanese authorities and humanitarian organisations to remedy the situation in the camp, despite our repeated appeals since the start of the flood disaster”.

They also hold the government and organisations responsible for the deaths of several children because of malnutrition and for the spread of diseases resulting from the poor living conditions in the camp, where large areas have been swept away by rains and floods.

The General Coordinator of the Darfur Displaced People and Refugees, Yagoub Furi, already expressed his concern over the health effects of the stagnant water pools in Kalma camp last week.

Earlier this month, 2,322 children were reported as malnourished in Kalma camp and six died of malnutrition after the World Food Programme (WFP) had to suspend support.

North Darfur

As in South Darfur, Tuesday’s heavy rains severely affected Kabkabiya in North Darfur, which witnessed 79.3mm rainfall. The rains caused damage to many houses and government buildings and lead to death of livestock.

North Darfur’s capital El Fasher and other areas also witnessed floods.

The North Darfur department of the Humanitarian Aid Commission called on the federal government and national and international relief organisations to urgently intervene to contain the situation.

Northern Sudan

In northern Sudan, torrential rains and floods caused the death of a woman and cut off the highway to the Egyptian border (called the Artery of the North) in the vicinity of Sahaba in Northern State.

A listener told Radio Dabanga that the woman was seriously injured when a wall of her house collapsed due to the rain. She died while people tried to bring her to Dongola for medical treatment.

In northern part of Nile River state, the Rainy Season Emergency Room also reported torrential rains that caused great damage to villages the area of Abu Hamad, bordering Egypt.

Original source

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