Conditions for newly displaced in South Darfur’s Kalma camp ‘catastrophic’: Sheikh

New arrivals at Kalma camp for the displaced in South Darfur are reportedly living in dire conditions, complaining about a shortage of food, and a lack of health care and educational facilities. Sheikh Juma Bakhit Hamid, said there are 10,111 newly displaced people at Kalma camp’s Centre 8. He appealing via Radio Dabanga to the international community to intervene as soon as possible in order to solve the current “catastrophic situation” before “it will be too difficult to overcome”. He noted that of the newly displaced people, only 5,114 have been registered until now. Hamid described their situation as catastrophic due to the lack of food. He personally has received three plates of grain in total since 28 January. Currently some families have not had any meals for more than two days, he said. Hamid noted that he and his colleagues had been invited for a meeting under the chairmanship of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and other organisations working in Darfur, together with heads of the camp centres, youth and women. They were given the opportunity to elaborately explain their complaints. On Tuesday, however, they were notified that the organisations would deal with the newly displaced only after their budgets could be ensured, with the warning that the budgets may not be sufficient. The Sheikh hopes that the organisations and parties concerned with the problem of the displaced in Darfur will look into the problem “today, and not wait until tomorrow”. File photo Related: 2.9 million malnourished in Darfur, mostly children: WFP (16 October 2013)