UN Humanitarian Coordinator Expresses “Concern Over Reports of Destruction of Homes and Livelihoods in Darfur, Western Sudan”
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced on Thursday that about 4,684 families were displaced over two days from 21 villages in North Darfur state, western Sudan, as battles between the army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continue in the state since May 2024.
The international organization said in a statement that “about 4,684 families were displaced from various villages in the Dar al-Salam area of North Darfur state due to increased insecurity during last Saturday and Sunday.”
The statement mentioned that these families were displaced from 21 villages to various locations across the Dar al-Salam area and El Fasher city, the center of North Darfur state.
Since May 10, 2024, the army and RSF have been clashing in El Fasher, which is considered the humanitarian operations center for the five Darfur states (four of which are under RSF control).
Since then, the RSF has been besieging “El Fasher” and bombarding it frequently to force the Sudanese army and its supporting joint forces to leave the city, which is the only center in the Darfur region still under Sudanese authorities’ control in the western part of the country.
In this context, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, expressed on Thursday her concern over reports of destruction of homes and livelihoods in Darfur, western Sudan.
The UN official stated via her account on the X platform, “Civilians continue to pay the price.”
She pointed out that access to the Zamzam camp for displaced people in El Fasher is almost impossible at a time when people need support more than ever.
The Sudanese army and RSF have been at war since April 2023, resulting in more than 20,000 deaths and about 15 million displaced persons and refugees, according to the UN and local authorities, while a study by American universities estimated the death toll at about 130,000.
In recent weeks, at an accelerated pace, the areas under RSF control have begun to decrease in favor of the army in the states of Khartoum, Gezira, White Nile, North Kordofan, Sennar, and Blue Nile.
In Khartoum state, which consists of 3 cities, the army now fully controls “Bahri city” in the north, most parts of “Omdurman city” in the west, and 75 percent of the depth of “Khartoum city” which is in the center of the state and contains the presidential palace and the international airport, while the RSF remains in neighborhoods east and south of the city.
