Kassala (AFP) – Under a tent bearing the UN logo in Kassala in eastern Sudan, Amna Hassan says “I lost my father in last week’s rains” that have displaced thousands of people in a country witnessing a devastating war.
Displaced people in a camp in Kassala in eastern Sudan on August August 11, 2024 © – AFP
Sudan, which has been mired for nearly 16 months in a war between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the army, has been facing widespread flooding, especially in the north and east of the country. Tuesday’s floods killed 17 people and collapsed thousands of homes.
Authorities in Kassala state, on Sudan’s eastern border with Eritrea, on Friday issued an “urgent appeal” to the international community demanding immediate help “to save thousands of those affected” by floods and rains, noting that “thousands of homes have been demolished.”
Heavy rains, often between May May and October each year, have caused flash floods that have damaged infrastructure, wiped out crops and displaced entire families.
In Wadi Halfa in the north of the country near the border with Egypt, local authorities reported “more than three thousand homes and health and service facilities damaged.”
Mohamed Othman, a resident of Wadi Halaf “I am speaking to you from a rocky hill on which we spent last night with dozens of families after we were surrounded by water from every direction,” he told AFP by phone.
More than 73,000 Sudanese have been affected by the floods, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Of those, more than 21,000 have been displaced and 14,300 have lost their homes.
Flies are heavily prevalent in Kassala and health authorities have sprayed pesticides, according to an AFP correspondent, further complicating living conditions in camps for displaced people.
Floods displaced in a camp in Kassala in eastern Sudan on August 11 August 2024 © – AFP
A doctor in Kassala who asked not to be named said the heavy rains carried health risks, pointing to cases of diarrhoea among children in particular.
“Rainwater cordoned off our tents”
This is not the first displacement of many of those affected.
The war since April April, 2023, has claimed thousands of lives and displaced tens of millions inside and outside the country.
Both sides are accused of war crimes, particularly deliberately targeting civilians and obstructing aid, deepening the humanitarian crisis suffocating the country.
According to the United Nations, more than 260,000 people have been displaced to Kassala state by the war, along with Omar Babiker and his family.
Babiker is now staying in a tent for the displaced. “We were living in a shelter in the city centre that was flooded last week. We were taken here and again the rainwater surrounded our tents.”
In the town of Aroma, about 40 kilometres east of Kassala, houses were also surrounded by water, forcing residents to take refuge along a road linking Kassala to Port Sudan.
“They were displaced three or four times”
Humanitarian agencies have warned that the rainy season could isolate entire areas, making rescue operations more difficult.
UNHCR spokeswoman Olga Sarado said: “Some people have been displaced three or four times since the conflict began. They lost their belongings and they don’t have meals.”
“They face significant challenges in accessing clean water and sanitation, increasing the risk of waterborne diseases.”
West of Kassala, IDP tents stretch over five square kilometres.
Displaced Fathia Mohamed as she tries to light a fire to prepare food for her children, says, “These tents don’t protect from the rain and we are still at the beginning of the season. Even lighting a fire is difficult because of moisture.”
Like other displaced people deprived of everything, Fathia Mohamed relies on a single meal provided by the kitchens of the camp where volunteers work.
Samar, a volunteer in the camp’s kitchen, told AFP: “We know the meal is not enough, but that’s what we can provide.”
