Newly displaced in North Darfur’s Zamzam camp in urgent need

The newly displaced at the Zamzam camp in North Darfur are still living in the open, without access to food, water, or medicines. Residents of the Sirba camps for the displaced in West Darfur are in need of tents as their shelters are worn-out. “The 18,000 new displaced people who have arrived to Zamzam camp since March 23 are originally from about 30 villages in East Jebel Marra, and the areas southwest of El Fasher and northeast of Kutum,” one of the camp sheikhs reported to Radio Dabanga. “They have been registered by the Sudanese Humanitarian Aid Commission and the International Organization for Migration. About 6,000 of them have received small amounts of sorghum, salt, and water.” The camp sheikh described the situation they are living in as “catastrophic and tragic” and appealed to relief organisations to speed up the provision of assistance, “especially as the rainy season is nearing”. Worn-out The residents of the Abu Suruj, Sirba and Kendebe camps in Sirba locality, West Darfur, have complained of bad conditions of their shelters, and a shortage of tents. The coordinator of the Sirba camps told Radio Dabanga that the displaced in the three camps, totalling more than 90,000, have to make do with shelters built of plastic sheets, palm mats, straw, and cardboard. “The shelters are worn-out by the sun, winds, and rain. They have not been maintained for three years. ” The camp coordinator urged aid organisations to provide tents as soon as possible, “before the rainy season starts”. Photo: Newly displaced at Kalma camp in South Darfur, 9 March 2014 (Albert González Farran/ Unamid)