16-22 November Sudan News Summary: Displacement, children in danger, and doctors on strike

23 Nov

Arabic news roundup

By William Greenwood

Civil society groups have revealed that thousands of people have been injured by gunfire in El Fasher, in addition to hundreds of cases of malnutrition and deaths in North Darfur and South Kordofan states.
Adam Rijal, spokesperson for the General Coordination of IDP and Refugee Camps in Darfur, confirmed that 1,600 people have been subjected to gender-based violence and 3,100 have been injured by gunfire, according to data received from the Tawila area.
In a statement issued on Friday, Rijal indicated that 1,700 children are suffering from acute malnutrition, along with 3,600 elderly people.
He noted that the number of internally displaced persons in Darfur has reached more than 7 million, in addition to the host communities, which are also suffering from exhaustion.
For its part, the Sudanese Doctors Network stated that its field teams documented the deaths of 23 children between October 20 and November 20 in the cities of Dilling and Kadugli in South Kordofan State due to acute malnutrition and a shortage of basic supplies.
The network confirmed in a press release on Friday that the deaths represent a serious warning sign of the escalating humanitarian tragedy in South Kordofan.

Medical sources confirmed the ongoing crisis between medical staff and the administration of the Nyala Specialised Hospital, in the the capital of South Darfur State, stemming from the non-payment of salaries to medical personnel since last July.
This comes after a previous resolution to the crisis, when the new hospital director pledged to pay two months' worth of outstanding salaries to the medical staff.
Three medical sources stated that the hospital's medical and healthcare staff demanded, during a meeting, that the new director pay their full monthly salaries, which are provided by the RSF medical department, since last July.
According to the sources, the medical staff gave the new director the choice between dismissal or resignation.
The medical staff at Nyala Specialised Hospital have been on an open-ended strike since last September due to the non-payment of their monthly salaries. The state Ministry of Health appointed a new hospital director based on a recommendation from the medical department.
The strike has exacerbated the suffering of citizens in Nyala, amidst rising costs of treatment and surgeries at private clinics.
The Specialised Hospital includes departments for general surgery and urology, and provides services to local residents and the other Darfur states

A senior UN official called on all parties to the conflict in Sudan to take life-saving measures to protect children, stressing that continued violations and fighting jeopardize the future of an entire generation and that a cessation of hostilities is now an urgent necessity.
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Vanessa Fraser, condemned the widespread and systematic violations of children’s rights that followed the “brutal takeover” of El Fasher on 26 October after an “inhumane siege” of more than 500 days, the subsequent reports of atrocities committed by the Rapid Support Forces, and the similar risks faced by children and their families in West Kordofan.
The Special Representative urged all parties to the conflict to immediately cease the deliberate targeting of children, including through sexual violence, abduction, detention, attacks on schools and hospitals, and forced mass displacement, which deprive them of safety and security.
She noted that the killing and maiming of children were among the most frequently documented violations in recent months, followed by rape, sexual violence, and abduction.
Millions of children in Sudan now face famine, acute food insecurity, displacement, lack of access to education, and widespread violence. Famine has been confirmed in El Fasher and Kadugli, and 20 other areas are at high risk of famine.

By Samuel Hunt

Humanitarian access in North Darfur is under threat: aid warehouses are nearly empty, convoys face severe insecurity, and ongoing access restrictions are limiting the delivery of food, medical supplies, and water.
According to UNHCR, 100,000 people have fled El Fasher and its surrounding areas, traveling through dangerous routes to reach displacement camps in Tawila, where the conditions are dire and life-saving aid is extremely limited.
In the Tawila camps, malnutrition is soaring: Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reports that over 70% of children under five arriving in recent weeks are acutely malnourished, and more than a third are suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
The UN’s humanitarian office (OCHA) describes the blockade of El Fasher as “unacceptable,” calling for immediate, safe pathways for aid convoys to reach trapped civilians.

The UN Human Rights Council has voted to send its Independent International Fact-Finding Mission to investigate “appalling abuses” in El Fasher, following reports of mass killings, rape, arbitrary detention, and ethnically targeted violence since the RSF captured the city.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called the atrocities “foreseen and preventable,” and underlined that some might constitute “the gravest of crimes.”
Human rights experts say the abuses involve widespread gender-based violence, including gang rape, and the use of detention and torture, likely amounting to war crimes or crimes against humanity.
The Fact-Finding Mission is tasked with identifying suspected perpetrators and documenting evidence to hold those responsible accountable.

Bill Greenwood