Sudan war: Both sides accused of ‘turning camps for displaced people into battlefields’

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and RSF-aligned Sudanese Joint Force (SJF)* are accused of “turning the camps for the displaced into battlefields”, while the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) hold ground in sieges and attacks on the camps.

Zamzam camp in El Fasher witnessed fierce battles between the SAF and SJF/RSF, resulting in an unspecified number of deaths and injuries. This largest camp in Darfur is now home to an estimated one million people, as the number of residents doubled since the current SAF-RSF war erupted in April 2023. The displaced have been suffering from a lack of food since the early days of the war. In June 2024, “famine thresholds were exceeded” in the camp.

Adam Rijal, spokesman for the coordination of camps for the displaced, told Radio Dabanga that “turning places of refuge into arenas for settling scores was disgraceful and unacceptable.”

As previously reported by Radio Dabanga, intense fighting in Zamzam camp has forced the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to temporarily pause the distribution of life-saving food and nutrition assistance in the famine-hit camp for displaced people. This follows a similar announcement by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) last week, who say: “The current escalation of attacks and fighting in and around Zamzam camp for displaced people near El Fasher in North Darfur, Sudan, is making it impossible for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to continue providing medical assistance in such dangerous conditions.

The suspension of MSF’s activities in Zamzam camp, along with the suspension of the work of many other organizations, portends an imminent danger on the horizon, the coordinator says.

Rijal appealed to the warring parties: “Stop messing with the lives of civilians, stay away from populated areas, abandon selfishness, and stop this crazy war through which you are committing grave violations against unarmed civilians.”

He stressed the need to stop supporting the parties to the war, and to work seriously to establish peace and stop conflicts, so that the April 15 war will be the last chapter of the wars in Sudan.

Exodus to Zamzam

The administration of the Zamzam camp in El Fasher said that a large number of civilians were displaced from Dar es Salaam locality to the camp on Saturday following an attack by the RSF on 52 villages.

The administration called on the displaced not to light fires, prevent the movement of vehicles at night, and not to use their telephone flashlight in open squares to avoid being targeted.

Radio Dabanga has approached both the SAF and the JSF/RSF for comment on the coordination’s accusations.

*The Sudanese Joint Force is made up of fighters of the Sudan Liberation Movement faction headed by Darfur Governor Minni Minawi (SLM-MM), the JEM faction led by Finance Minister Jibril Ibrahim (JEM-JI), and several small rebel groups. These movements formed the Darfur Joint Force in June 2022 as agreed in the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement, to protect the people of Darfur. They renounced their neutrality in November last year and are now fighting against the RSF alongside the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).