More than 20,000 newly displaced in North Darfur in dire need

An estimated 21,300 people who have sought refuge near the Unamid team site in Korma, North Darfur, are in urgent need of assistance. The people fled their homes following a series of militia attacks earlier this year on more than 45 villages around Korma town. The first wave of attacks took place in March and April displacing 7,200 people, and the second wave, early June, displaced about 14,100.The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has been unable to verify these numbers, as the Sudanese Humanitarian Affairs Commission (HAC) does not recognise the site as a camp for the displaced. The people, however, have named the unofficial settlement “Shoba camp”. Organisations are working to provide the newly displaced with the necessary relief. IOM is planning to undertake a headcount as soon as possible to facilitate the provision of emergency food and emergency household items, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan reported in its latest weekly bulletin. While Unamid is increasing its patrols around Korma, the national health organisation, Zulfa, is operating a primary health care clinic in the area, but the increasing population has almost exhausted medical supplies. Unicef will provide nutrition and medical supplies.Unamid has drilled two boreholes, while Unicef and the Sudanese Water and Environmental Sanitation Department (WES) have installed a water bladder with a capacity of 10,000 litres, and constructed 50 latrines. Relocation of displaced in Mellit After attacks on their villages in Mellit and Kutum localities in April, thousands of newly displaced sought refuge near the Unamid team site in Mellit, North Darfur. Local authorities did not permit a humanitarian response for people displaced to the Mellit site, as government policies do not allow the creation of new camps. Following a monitoring mission, the 9,200 newly displaced were relocated to a site near the Abbasi camp, close to the town of Mellit. WES has provided a 10,000 litre water bladder, and also sent two Unamid-provided water tankers to the new site. The North Darfur State Ministry of Health is planning to strengthen the capacity of the health facility at Abbasi camp, where the newly displaced are accessing health services. Once IOM completes their verification exercise, they will receive food and emergency household items. According to humanitarian actors, since January 2014 an estimated 395,000 people have been displaced, of whom some 127,000 have subsequently returned home, or what remains of their homes, OCHA stated. The total number of displaced people in Darfur is now estimated as 2.4 million. File photo: Newly displaced at Kalma camp in South Darfur (Albert González Farran/Unamid) Related: Thousands flee attacks in Korma, North Darfur (12 June 2014) Life-threatening situation in Mellit – aid agencies in Sudan alarmed (5 June 2014) Militiamen kill 11, pillage villages in North Darfur’s Korma (6 June 2014)