More Jebel Marra displaced arrive in South Darfur

Displaced people from East Jebel Marra continue to arrive in camps in South Darfur. More than 1,200 people fled to the state over the past two months.

The 1,280 displaced arrived in camps in Mershing locality, the camp coordinator in Mershing said. The first people arrived late February, and the last group of people arrived on Friday. The majority of the 236 displaced families are women, children, and elderly people.

The displaced in South Darfur, according to the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) and Sudan’s aid commission (HAC), numbered 3,910 in Kass and 920 in Otash camps at the end of March.

The military offensive against the armed rebels in inner Jebel Marra was launched on 15 January. Aerial bombardments in civilian areas and attacks by militiamen forced residents to abandon their villages.

An independent Member of Parliament in Ed El Fursan, Mohamed Tahar Isail, announced that there is “a massive displacement in Central and South Darfur”. Tahar called on the government to help these displaced people “instead of treating them like rebels”.

Tahar also informed the parliament this week that South Darfur also suffers from a lack of rainfall, causing problems for livestock. His demand to the Minister of Livestock to find a solution has not been responded to.

South Darfur has also received about 3,800 refugees from South Sudan since January this year, OCHA reported last week.

‘54,000 in Tawila’

The United Nations estimated that at least 138,000 people from the Jebel Marra Massif were displaced as of 31 March. The majority has fled to camps in North Darfur, including Tawila, Sortony, and Shangil Tobaya.

In Tawila, activists and community leaders claimed that the number of displaced people from the heavily bombed and shelled Jebel Marra amounted to 54,000 people. They have poured into Tawila camp since the start of the military offensive against the armed rebels on 15 January.

An activist told Radio Dabanga that only 18,000, of the people have received humanitarian aid.

Mid-March, Shangil Tobaya’s Shadad camp for the displaced counted an estimated 4,495 people from Jebel Marra.

Several thousand displaced have also sought shelter in Central Darfur, but international aid organisations have been unable to move to the area to verify their numbers.

Photos below: The camp Shadad in Shangil Tobaya, North Darfur, where newly displaced people from Jebel Marra have sought refuge over the past three months, in April 2016 (RD)