‘Conditions for 32,000 newly displaced in Central Darfur’s Fassi catastrophic’: Commissioner

About 32,000 people who fled from Saraf Omra locality in North Darfur to the area of Fassi in Central Darfur are living in dire humanitarian conditions. The Humanitarian Aid Commissioner of Central Darfur, Radi Ali Amin, described the conditions the Saraf Omra displaced are living in as “catastrophic”. They fled towards the south, to Fassi in Zalingei locality, following the widespread attacks by militias led by the well-known Jajaweed militia leader Musa Hilal on 7 and 8 March. “Nearly 32,000 people arrived at the area of Fassi in less than a week. The Commissioner called upon the international organisations, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and the federal Commissions of Humanitarian Affairs of the adjacent Darfur states to intervene to rescue the newly displaced. One of the escapees confirmed to Radio Dabanga that “The humanitarian and health conditions most of us are surviving in, here in Fassi, are dramatic.” “We are living in the open, under the hot sun, without shelter, water, or food. Diarrhoea and other diseases have begun to spread among children and the elderly.” He added that the representatives of Humanitarian Aid Commission visited them on Saturday, and distributed 200 large (about 100kg) sacks of sorghum to 400 households. Each household was given SDG3.50 ($0.61). The escapee appealed to humanitarian organisations to accelerate the provision of relief items. File photo: Newly displaced in North Darfur (OCHA) Related:Goods, livestock looted in Saraf Omra for sale in West Darfur capital (13 march 2014) Musa Hilal’s militias plunder, burn, take control of North Darfur’s Saraf Omra (9 March 2014) Musa Hilal warns North Darfur citizens of ‘operations’ (2 March 2014)