Seven months after Sudan’s civil war began, things are getting worse for many people in the capital city, Khartoum. Some who fled the city at the beginning of the war are also having a hard time surviving.
Abdul-Aziz Hussein – not his real name for safety – decided to stay in Khartoum in April. He didn’t expect the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to keep fighting for so long.
“We are still surrounded and the fighting is continuing,” he tells me when I call him.
The RSF have come into the area and caused a lot of trouble, while the army is attacking their positions in the neighborhood. Death may happen at any time.
Around 5,000 Sudanese people have died in fighting between two parts of the military, and many more have been hurt.
The 45-year-old teacher wants to leave with his wife and three kids. He really wants to go. They almost moved last month, but the fighting near their home in the Kalakla suburb was too strong.
The place is empty and quiet, the family hasn’t had any food for two days and it’s difficult to find water. According to Mr Hussein, electricity is not easy to get.
When I call again, Mr Hussein says that violent soldiers are stealing from stores and homes.
He says it feels like living in a really bad place.
The UN says that the strong fighting in Khartoum and Darfur is making it hard to deliver aid.
More than five million people had to leave their homes because of the fighting, and 24. 7 million need urgent help.
Many people don’t have clean water, which makes them more likely to get sick with cholera and other diseases.
The UN’s deputy special representative in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, says we need a break in fighting so we can give food and help to people in need and see how much help they need.
“Most importantly, we need the fighting to stop for good. ” We want the fighting to stop so we can deliver help, and the people in Sudan can go back to their regular lives.
A few short breaks in fighting were agreed at the beginning of the war to help people, but efforts to make long-lasting peace are not making much progress. Unicef’s person in charge in Sudan, Mandeep O’Brien, told the BBC that a big problem where people need help is coming soon.
“If the war keeps going, we think things will be really bad by the end of the year. ”
Even people who fled from Khartoum to Port Sudan, on the Red Sea coast, are having a hard time staying alive.
I met Hawa Suleiman in a shelter in the port city. She was trying to make food for her five children from the little bit of wheat she had, but there wasn’t enough.
They get one meal a day from a charity in Qatar. Suleiman shares it with her kids so they can have breakfast. Without a fridge, the food can go bad and make her kids ill.
She and her kids ran away from Omdurman, the city near Khartoum, when the fighting began on April 14th. Bombs were dropping while they ran away, and she and her husband got separated in all the confusion. We haven’t heard from him and we don’t know if he’s alive or dead.
The family traveled 1,000km to Port Sudan and tried to leave, but were told they couldn’t because the boats were only for people from other countries.
Ms Suleiman found out that she didn’t have anyone to help her. When one of her kids got sick from bad food, she could only afford medicine because someone kind helped pay for half of it.
“MsSuleiman said the doctor cried when she saw how sick we were. ” “We are very tired. ” We are suffering too much.
Many different people from different countries are also suffering because of the war, including Syrians, Pakistanis, Indians, and a lot of refugees from South Sudan. In Port Sudan, many families are living in a crowded shelter that used to be a university dormitory.
Abiol is part of that group. She had run away from South Sudan before and now lives in a camp in Khartoum in a place called al-Haj Yousif.
“I wanted to go back to my country, but there was a war in Khartoum, so we had to move to Port Sudan,” she explains.
“It’s like destiny has decided that we will spend our whole lives in refugee camps. ”
Peter, who fled from Congo, was studying at a university in Khartoum before the fighting started. He says the living conditions in the Port Sudan dormitory are very bad, so he sells charcoal to have a slightly better life.
The conflict has also hurt aid workers. 900 times, UN workers have been in dangerous situations, and 19 of them have died. This means it’s the most unsafe place in the world for people who help others.
At the same time, the UN is having trouble getting enough money to do its work in the country. They have only been able to raise enough money to cover a quarter of their $2. 6 billion humanitarian response plan.
Ms Nkweta-Salami says that not doing anything will be very expensive. “We ask our donors to support us and ask the parties to stop the fighting. ”
Source: The Independent Ghana