31000 new arrivals at Zamzam Camp following Darfur bombing

About 31.000 displaced people arrived at Zamzam Camp during the past days, fleeing from Shangil Tobaya Camp and the surrounding villages following aerial bombardment there on 17 and 18 February.A witness in Zamzam described the conditions of the thousands of newly displaced people as “very bad”. He said there is no process to record their arrival or provide them with any food or tents for shelter.

Cases of diarrhea have emerged among children of the new arrivals, the witness at Zamzam told Radio Dabanga.

One of the leaders of Zamzam Camp appealed to international organizations and the United Nations to immediately intervene and provide humanitarian and medical aid to the tens of thousands of newly displaced people in the camp. In remarks broadcast today on Radio Dabanga, the leader described the situation of the new arrivals as grave.

Last Saturday, UN-African Union peacekeeping mission said there was a “recrudescence” (worsening) of violence in the areas where these 31.000 people have fled from. The UNAMID chief issued a statement saying he was “particularly disturbed about reports of the most recent recrudescence of violence between Government of the Sudan soldiers and a combined group of elements from several rebel movements, in the region of Shangil Tobaya, 66 kilometers south west of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.”