Many of the children who fled the ongoing fighting in Sudan are now suffering from malnutrition.
In a refugee camp located in the Chadian town of Adre, dozens of mothers are waiting with their sick children outside one of the camp’s field hospitals.
Amna Mousa fled the country in June and crossed the border to neighboring Chad. “I was sick and pregnant. My daughter was sick, she was suffering from diarrhea and vomiting,” she said.
Aid workers at the camp complained about the lack of medications and called for urgent medical assistance. “Any malnutrition patient who comes to us should receive proper medications and we don’t have any medications here,” said volunteer doctor, Hashem Moussa.
About 500 children have died from hunger in Sudan — including two dozen babies in a government-run orphanage in the capital of Khartoum — since fighting erupted, Save the Children said Tuesday.
According to the aid group, at least 31,000 children lack access to treatment for malnutrition and related illnesses since the charity was forced to close 57 of its nutrition centers in Sudan.
Sudan was plunged into chaos in April when simmering tensions between the military, led by Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere.
More than 3.4 million people were forced to flee their homes to safer areas inside Sudan, according to the United Nations’ migration agency. Over a million crossed into neighboring countries, including Egypt, Chad, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Central African Republic, according to the United Nations’ migration agency.
The agency stated that over 414,000 refugees have fled to Chad since the conflict began in April, with a massive influx seen recently as fighting in Darfur has intensified.
The conflict has turned Khartoum and other urban areas into battlefields. Many residents live without water and electricity, and the country’s health care system has nearly collapsed.
The sprawling region of Darfur saw some of the worst bouts of violence in the conflict, and the fighting there has morphed into ethnic clashes with RSF and allied Arab militia targeting ethnic African communities.
Source: Africanews
