Sudan: Displaced in South Darfur Shelters Face Critical Humanitarian Conditions
Nyala — The emergency room and health centres in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, warn of deteriorating humanitarian conditions in several displacement shelters across the city. They say the basic needs of hundreds of families remain inadequately met, amid shortages of food, water, medicines, shelter materials, and hygiene supplies.
Nibras Abdullah, a member of Nyala’s emergency room and health centres, says conditions in the shelters have become extremely critical, particularly with the onset of the rainy season. Several families are living in the open or in damaged classrooms whose roofs allow rainwater to leak through, she says.
El Jir neighbourhood shelter, which accommodates about 214 families, is facing shortages of food, water, and shelter materials, as well as a need to repair toilets and fit them with doors, empty latrines, and secure the western side of the centre, she says.
At El Hamaira shelter in El Wadi neighbourhood, which houses about 274 families, displaced people urgently need food, water, and hygiene supplies, as well as medicines, particularly treatments for chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, Abdullah says.
El Zahra shelter accommodates about 115 families, while the Mahira School shelter houses about 457 families. Most of the shelters face similar shortages of food, water, hygiene and shelter materials, and medicines, she says.
Other centres facing shortages of basic necessities include El Savana, the airport, the commercial school, customs, and the technical school, as well as several other shelters across the city.
Families living in the open, overcrowded classrooms
Abdullah says some families are still living in the open within the shelters, while others are forced to share overcrowded classrooms, with a single classroom sometimes housing more than seven to 10 families.
Several classrooms need roof repairs and doors to provide displaced people with a minimum level of privacy, she says, warning that the rains have made families’ hardship worse by allowing water to seep into their living spaces.
Limited support as needs grow
Abdullah says some organisations are providing assistance to the shelters, while support is also reaching the emergency room, but describes the scale of aid as inadequate compared with the growing needs.
Continually rising prices are making it harder to meet the needs of displaced people, she says, particularly as the available support does not match the increasing number of families living in the shelters.
She calls for urgent intervention by humanitarian organisations and the relevant authorities to provide food, water, shelter and hygiene materials, and medicines, as well as to improve temporary accommodation and repair toilets, in order to prevent further humanitarian deterioration as the rainy season continues.
By Dabanga.
