Unregistered displaced still await aid in North Darfur

Thousands of displaced people in Zamzam camp, North Darfur, still await the adjustment of their status and provision of food and shelter. “They have not been provided with food for eight months.” Humanitarians on the ground stated that they have registered all newly displaced people in the camp, although a number of community leaders refuse to be registered.

The coordinator of Zamzam told Radio Dabanga this week that about 24,000 displaced people in the camp failed to adjust their status and have therefore not received any aid since they arrived in 2014-2015.

He added that the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has registered 11,000 of the 35,000 people who have been displaced since the start of 2015. The coordinator explained that from this group of 'newly displaced', only about 2,000 people have received non-food items including tents and blankets in the camp, which is south of the state capital El Fasher.

A spokesman for the IOM reported to Dabanga Sudan on Wednesday that "the registration of all new arrivals in 2015 (that have been reported to IOM or tracked by our team)" has been completed. "The registered internally displaced people have received non-food items from the IOM and the [non-food items] sector."

She stressed that there are "pending caseloads" of leaders of groups who refuse to be registered. "IOM regularly meets with community leaders in Zamzam camp to discuss pending cases or any gaps […] it is IOM's responsibility to register the displaced people."

The camp coordinator of Zamzam appealed to all humanitarian organisations to provide aid to tens of thousands of displaced people who have been without food for eight months.

Newly displaced

The newest inhabitants of Zamzam camp became displaced as a result of the fighting between Sudanese paramilitary forces and rebels, and aerial bombardments in North Darfur. Some of them were registered by humanitarian organisations in Zamzam, while others were not. An activist in the camp claimed that a number of displaced people have begun to beg for food in the neighbourhoods and markets of El Fasher.

During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a resident of the camp appealed to people living in El Fasher to bring food for the poor and hungry displaced, and cook collective meals to break the fast in the camp.