Beginning on Friday, another wave of artillery hit North Darfur’s Zamzam camp for internally displaced Sudanese civilians. While there is not yet an estimate of casualties from the violence, hundreds of people have since fled the camp – displaced once again by violence from a camp that is itself supposed to be a safe haven for those displaced by violence. These incidents are far too familiar: just last week, Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacks on Zamzam, the largest camp for internally displaced in North Darfur, killed at least eight people and injured several more, forcing relief agencies to suspend life-saving services to more than half a million people who, as confirmed in August of this year, are already in the grips of famine.
On top of this, a military airstrike in North Darfur hit a market this week and resulted in more than 100 deaths and injured hundreds more, including women and girls, and the main hospital in El Fasher has also been hit. I am horrified by these latest acts of violence toward civilians who have suffered through more than 18 months of conflict. For many, this is only the latest in a long history of trauma; many of those in Zamzam are survivors of the Darfur genocide 20 years ago.
Conflict, atrocities, and the systematic destruction of villages and livelihoods seemingly along ethnic lines have displaced more than 12 million civilians, with millions seeking shelter and basic life-saving services in camps inside Sudan and neighboring countries. Civilians are caught in the crosshairs of the conflict between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), leading to egregious violations of international humanitarian law.
Attacking displacement camps is unconscionable and may amount to further war crimes – in a conflict that has caused the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. We welcome recent progress in increasing humanitarian access, including the decision by Sudanese authorities to allow UN humanitarian flights, increased movement of humanitarian convoys, and humanitarian hubs inside Sudan to get aid operations closer to at-risk populations. Yet, more is needed. The war between the SAF and the RSF continues to prevent humanitarian agencies from consistently reaching starving people trapped inside Zamzam and other parts of Sudan. Millions more are on the brink. Communities are facing cholera and polio outbreaks. And atrocious acts of gender-based violence are commonplace.
The United States continues to demand that the SAF, RSF, and all parties and their external supporters must take immediate further action to end the suffering of the Sudanese people. We call on all parties to the conflict to end attacks on civilian sites and to enable full and meaningful humanitarian access throughout Sudan, including by creating cross-line corridors so humanitarian workers can surge assistance to the most vulnerable.