Camps’ resources stretched even further in Nyala, South Darfur

Wednesday saw a further 80 families arrive at Attash camp near Nyala, the capital of South Darfur. The families, who travelled from Labado area, bring the count of displaced families at Attash camp alone to about 3,200. As is the case with many of the displaced in Darfur, these people are living in very poor conditions and their situation is dire. Especially the imminent autumn rainy season has prompted a chorus of appeals by camp leaders via Radio Dabanga to the government as well as humanitarian agencies to speed up the provision of aid. Food, water and medical care are needed all year round, but the rainy season adds extra urgency to the need for tarpaulins and plastic sheeting. In a recent report, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirmed that inter-tribal fighting and conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and armed rebel movements have forcibly displaced more than 300,000 people in Darfur since the beginning of this year. The report notes that more than five times as many people have been displaced in the first few months of 2013 than in the whole of the previous year. Human rights groups and the UN estimate that more than 300,000 people have died in a decade of war in Darfur, although this toll is disputed by the government, which says around 10,000 people have been killed. The UN estimates that since hostilities began in Darfur in 2003, more than three million people have been displaced.File photo