How conflict and mass displacement in Sudan are exacting a devastating toll on civilians

Special How conflict and mass displacement in Sudan are exacting a devastating toll on civilians
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Sudan is in the grips of the world’s largest internal-displacement crisis, with millions fleeing the fighting. (Corentin Fohlen/Divergence
Special How conflict and mass displacement in Sudan are exacting a devastating toll on civilians
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Ambelia transit camp in Chad was set up to temporarily host vulnerable Sudanese refugees, including war wounded. At the end of May, the people sheltered in Ambelia were able to be transferred to a more permanent site: the Farchana camp, which was one of the first camps to open in eastern Chad in January 2004 and was expanded to make room for the new refugees. (Corentin Fohlen/Divergence)
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Updated 05 August 2024
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How conflict and mass displacement in Sudan are exacting a devastating toll on civilians

How conflict and mass displacement in Sudan are exacting a devastating toll on civilians
  • Sudanese face ‘horrendous levels of violence, repeated attacks, abuse and exploitation,’ says MSF
  • Award-winning Sudanese photographer describes the torment of civilians whose lives he documents

DUBAI: Sudanese freelance photographer Faiz Abubakr has been documenting the crisis in his home country that began in April 2023, when violence broke out between rival military factions.

The Sudanese Armed Forces, led by Sudan’s de facto president, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, have been locked in battle with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, under Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti, ever since.




In this combination photo, Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (left frame) attends a graduation ceremony in Gibet near Port Sudan on July 31, 2024, while paramilitary forces commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo is shown in the other photo addressings his followers at an undisclosed location on July 28, 2023. (AFP photos)

Despite the immense danger, Abubakr felt compelled to go out into the streets with his camera to record the catastrophe unfolding in his home city of Khartoum and capture the impact of the generals’ bitter rivalry on its beleaguered citizens.

“Many questions ran through my mind about the lives of these residents who fled daily from the scourge of war, whose homes and belongings were consumed by fire, and who died in tragic ways,” Abubakr told Arab News. “These questions related to how they spent their days under the roar of planes and explosions, which forced them to abandon their homes and were haunted by the curses of displacement.”

According to the UN, Sudan is now in the grips of the world’s largest internal-displacement crisis, with millions forced to flee their homes, including Abubakr who initially sought refuge in Egypt with his family

After a few months, he returned to Sudan to work for several news agencies until he was wounded, he said, by an RSF gunman. While he recovered, he and his family moved to Kassala, located in the east of Sudan, close to the border with Eritrea.

Abubakr’s clients had included AFP, Le Monde, and The New York Times. Prior to the conflict, he was the recipient of the 2022 World Press Photo Award in the “Africa, singles” category. Now he is just trying to survive.

“The situation is much worse than before,” said Abubakr. “Life is very difficult due to lack of food and livelihood. There is the threat of famine in all parts of the country.




Even in displacement, freelance photographer Faiz Abubakr has continued to photograph the conflict unfolding around him in Sudan. (Instagram)

Even in displacement, Abubakr has continued to photograph the conflict unfolding around him, in particular its impact on civilians forced to leave their homes.

“I try to document their stories, but it is very difficult to photograph due to security reasons,” he said. “I lost everything during the war, including most of my photography equipment. My psychological state is becoming worse.”

INNUMBERS

10 million People internally displaced in Sudan, according to the UN.

25 million More than half of the population in need of humanitarian aid.

Abubakr is not alone. The conflict has taken a devastating toll on the health and wellbeing of Sudanese civilians, according to a new report by Medecins Sans Frontieres, whose staff operate in eight states across Sudan.

The population has faced “horrendous levels of violence, succumbing to widespread fighting and surviving repeated attacks, abuse, and exploitation” by the warring parties, the report states.

“The violence in Sudan shows no signs of abating,” Vickie Hawkins, executive director of MSF UK, writes in the report. “In fact, it is intensifying at a pace that outstrips our ability to process, document and respond to the daily events that our teams and patients experience in Sudan.”




People receive treatment at the Bashair hospital in Sudan's capital during the early weeks of the war last year. Many hospitals in Khartoum and other states have closed because of attacks against health workers. (AFP/File)

The report draws on medical and operational data collected by MSF from April 15, 2023, to May 15 this year. It notes the patterns of violence and abuse observed by MSF teams and the devastating impact of the fighting on public health.

In the report, an unnamed health worker at Al-Nao hospital in Omdurman, west of Khartoum, described the aftermath of recent shelling in a residential area of the city.

“About 20 people arrived and died straight after. Some arrived already dead,” the health worker said. “Most of them came with already hanging hands or legs, already amputated. Some only with a small part of skin keeping two limbs together.

“One patient came with an amputated leg, their caregiver followed behind, carrying their missing limb in their hand.”




The destruction that followed the storming and looting of an MSF-supported health facility in Sudan. (MSF)

According to MSF, Al-Nao hospital has treated 6,776 patients for injuries caused by armed violence between Aug. 15, 2023 and April 30 this year — an average of 26 people per day.

“After 15 months of conflict, the warring parties show a complete lack of regard for any civilian life,” Kyle McNally, a project coordinator for MSF who was recently stationed in Sudan’s southwestern city of Nyala, told Arab News.

“These are the people that they claim to be representing and fighting for. Instead, this is really a war on the people of Sudan in the way that they’re conducting their hostilities. We see very egregious violations of civilian protection and attacks against civilians as well as civilian infrastructure.




Kyle McNally, a project coordinator for Medicins Sans Frontieres. (MSF photo)

“Hospitals and medical staff have not been spared. We see numerous attacks against healthcare facilities. The hospital system and the healthcare system have been completely decimated by the fighting.”

According to the UN, Sudan faces a deepening food crisis, with around 25 million people — including more than 14 million children, of whom 3 million are under the age of five, suffering acute malnutrition — in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

At least 10 million people have been forced to flee their homes to escape the violence, according to newly released data from the UN’s International Organization for Migration.

“The conflict in Sudan has become one of the largest displacement crises in the world,” Alyona Synenko, spokesperson for the Africa region at the International Committee of the Red Cross, told Arab News from Nairobi.

“We’re talking about a quarter of the population of the country that has fled their homes. People have lost their homes and lost access to essential means for survival.”

The displacement of farmers, in particular, has led to the collapse of Sudan’s agricultural sector, exacerbating food insecurity. “Food production has suffered immensely, and we’re witnessing a worsening food crisis,” said Synenko. 

“We have hundreds of people who call us, desperate, because they don’t know what happened to their loved ones. We have more and more families who are separated and have lost any means to contact each other.”




Displaced children share a meal provided through a charity initiative at a displacement camp in Gedaref city in the east of war-torn Sudan on July 13, 2024. (AFP)

During the first half of 2024, the ICRC worked in partnership with the Sudanese Red Crescent to provide emergency assistance and essential services. However, its efforts have been frustrated by the security situation, administrative challenges, and difficulties accessing communities.

Nowhere is this more obvious than in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region, where allegations of ethnic cleansing and attacks on hospitals have emerged.

“We saw just utter devastation throughout the city of Nyala, which used to be the second most populous city in Sudan,” said McNally of MSF.

“The entire northern half of the city is almost completely destroyed. You see a complete lack of basic services anywhere. There has been virtually no international humanitarian response in this part of the country.

“You really see people struggling. You have the residents who remained, and then you also have IDP camps in the surrounding area with hundreds of thousands of people. You see a lot of people who are incredibly desperate and very little assistance currently reaching them.”




Volunteers in a charity provide meals at a displacement camp in Gedaref city in the east of war-torn Sudan on July 13, 2024. (AFP)

According to Abubakr, Sudanese civilians suffer especially badly in areas controlled by the Rapid Support Forces. The paramilitary group now controls most of Khartoum, Al-Jazirah, Kordofan, and the vast western region of Darfur.

Of particular concern are reports of sexual and gender-based violence emerging from across the country, but especially from Darfur.

An MSF survey of 135 survivors of sexual violence, treated in refugee camps in Chad by MSF teams between July and December 2023, found that 90 percent were abused by an armed perpetrator. Fifty percent were abused in their own home and 40 percent were raped by multiple attackers.




The conflict has left tens of thousands of people disabled. (Corentin Fohlen/Divergence 

Abubakr recalls feeling haunted by the sight of his neighbors in Khartoum abandoning their homes — leaving places and belongings that were integral to their identity, not knowing whether they would ever return. He never believed that he, too, would flee the city of his birth.

Now, only the memories and the photographs of a home he someday hopes to reclaim remain.

“I see that a person does not inhabit the place as much as the place inhabits them,” said Abubakr. “The images and scenes of my home never left my mind. I wish to return to it again.”
 

 

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Tunisia jails critic of president for eight months: lawyer

Updated 8 sec ago
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Tunisia jails critic of president for eight months: lawyer

Tunisia jails critic of president for eight months: lawyer
TUNIS: A Tunisian appeals court sentenced a lawyer and media figure to eight months in prison, her lawyer said Wednesday, over comments deemed critical of President Kais Saied.
Sonia Dahmani, 56, was arrested on May 11 when masked police raided Tunisia’s bar association, where she had sought refuge, following her remarks made on television.
Initially sentenced to one year in prison on July 6, she appealed.
Her lawyer, Pierre-Francois Feltesse, said the eight-month sentence was issued late Tuesday without her legal representatives being able to enter a plea, after the hearing was suspended.
The defense team said in a statement to AFP that Dahmani had been “subjected a disgraceful body search” in custody and forced to wear a “long white veil” usually reserved for women prosecuted for sexual offenses, despite no legal basis for it.
Feltesse said her case would be referred to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
The charges stemmed from comments Dahmani made on TV, sarcastically questioning Tunisia’s state of affairs in response to claims sub-Saharan migrants were settling in the country.
“What extraordinary country are we talking about?” she said at the time.
A judicial report said her comments referenced a speech by Saied, who said Tunisia would not become a resettlement zone for migrants blocked from going to Europe.
Saied, democratically elected in 2019, has ruled Tunisia by decree since a 2021 power grab.
He leads the race for an October 6 presidential election, after several hopefuls were barred. One of his two challengers, Ayachi Zammel, is in prison.
Decree 54, enacted by Saied in 2022, criminalizes “spreading false news.”
The National Union of Tunisian Journalists says it has been used to prosecute more than 60 journalists, lawyers and opposition figures.
Human Rights Watch has said at least eight prospective candidates had been prosecuted, convicted or imprisoned in the run-up to the election.
“Holding elections amid such repression makes a mockery of Tunisians’ right to participate in free and fair elections,” said the New York-based advocacy group.

Jordan’s Islamists bounce back in election clouded by Gaza war

Jordan’s Islamists bounce back in election clouded by Gaza war
Updated 4 min 39 sec ago
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Jordan’s Islamists bounce back in election clouded by Gaza war

Jordan’s Islamists bounce back in election clouded by Gaza war
  • The Islamist Action Front (IAF), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, won up to a fifth of the seats under the revamped electoral law
  • Under Jordan’s constitution, most powers still rest with the king who appoints governments and can dissolve parliament

AMMAN: Jordan’s moderate Islamist opposition made significant gains in Tuesday’s parliamentary election, initial official results showed on Wednesday, boosted by anger over Israel’s war in Gaza.
The Islamist Action Front (IAF) also benefited from a new electoral law that encourages a bigger role for political parties in the 138-seat parliament, though tribal and pro-government factions will continue to dominate the assembly.
The IAF, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, won up to a fifth of the seats under the revamped electoral law, which for the first time allocated 41 seats for parties, according to preliminary figures seen by Reuters and confirmed by independent and official sources.
“The Jordanian people have given us their trust by voting for us. This new phase will increase the burden of responsibility for the party toward the nation and our citizens,” Wael al Saqqa, head of the IAF, told Reuters.
The election represents a modest step in a democratization process launched by King Abdullah as he seeks to insulate Jordan from the conflicts at its borders, and speed up the slow pace of political reforms.
Under Jordan’s constitution, most powers still rest with the king who appoints governments and can dissolve parliament. The assembly can force a cabinet to resign by a vote of no confidence.
Turnout among Jordan’s 5.1 million eligible voters in Tuesday’s poll was low at 32.25 percent, initial official figures showed, up slightly from 29 percent at the last election in 2020.
Jordanian officials say the fact that elections are being held at all while the war in Gaza and other regional conflicts are raging demonstrates their country’s relative stability.
The Muslim Brotherhood has been allowed to operate in Jordan since 1946.
 


Biden seeks ‘full accountability’ after death of US citizen in West Bank

Biden seeks ‘full accountability’ after death of US citizen in West Bank
Updated 7 min 10 sec ago
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Biden seeks ‘full accountability’ after death of US citizen in West Bank

Biden seeks ‘full accountability’ after death of US citizen in West Bank
  • Turkish and Palestinian officials say Israeli troops shot 26-year-old Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who had been taking part in a protest against settlement expansion

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said Israel must do more to ensure that incidents like the fatal shooting of an American protester against settlement expansion never happen again, calling her death “totally unacceptable.”
In a statement, Biden said while Israel has taken responsibility for her death, the US government expects continued access as the investigation continues over the circumstances of the shooting. Israel has said her death was accidental.
Turkish and Palestinian officials said on Friday that Israeli troops shot 26-year-old Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who had been taking part in a protest against settlement expansion.
Palestinian news agency WAFA said the incident took place during a regular protest march by activists in Beita, a village near Nablus that has seen repeated attacks on Palestinians by Jewish settlers.
Israel’s military said it was looking into reports that a female foreign national “was killed as a result of shots fired in the area. The details of the incident and the circumstances in which she was hit are under review.”
A rise in violent attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank has stirred anger among Western allies of Israel, including the United States, which has imposed sanctions on some Israelis involved in the settler movement.
Since the 1967 Middle East war, Israel has occupied the West Bank of the Jordan River, which Palestinians want as the core of an independent state.
Israel has built settlements there that most countries deem illegal. Israel disputes that assertion, citing historical and biblical ties to the land.


US diplomatic facility attacked in Baghdad, no casualties, embassy says

US diplomatic facility attacked in Baghdad, no casualties, embassy says
Updated 10 min 19 sec ago
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US diplomatic facility attacked in Baghdad, no casualties, embassy says

US diplomatic facility attacked in Baghdad, no casualties, embassy says
  • Two rockets had fallen at around 11 p.m. on Tuesday near US forces stationed near Baghdad airport

BAGHDAD: A United States diplomatic facility in Baghdad came under attack late on Tuesday but there are no reports of casualties and a damage assessment is underway, a US embassy spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.
Security sources told Reuters two rockets had fallen at around 11 p.m. on Tuesday near US forces stationed near Baghdad airport at the Camp Victory base.
“At approximately 23:00 on Tuesday, September 10, there was an attack at the Baghdad Diplomatic Services Compound, a US diplomatic facility,” the US embassy statement said.
“Fortunately, there are no reported casualties, and we are assessing the damage and its cause. Our assessment is ongoing,” it said.
Kataib Hezbollah, one of Iraq’s Iran-backed armed factions, said the timing of the attack was clearly designed to disrupt a visit to Iraq by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that began on Wednesday.
The group called on Iraqi security forces in a statement issued early on Wednesday to investigate the attack and to determine who was responsible.
Pezeshkian, on his first foreign trip since being elected in July, is expected to sign a number of bilateral agreements with Baghdad and to discuss the Gaza war and the wider situation in the Middle East with Iraqi leaders.
Iraq, a rare regional partner of both the United States and Iran, hosts 2,500 US troops and also has Iran-backed armed factions linked to its security forces.
Iran-aligned armed groups in Iraq have repeatedly attacked US troops in the Middle East since the Gaza war began.


Israel army says two soldiers killed in Gaza helicopter crash

Israel army says two soldiers killed in Gaza helicopter crash
Updated 11 September 2024
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Israel army says two soldiers killed in Gaza helicopter crash

Israel army says two soldiers killed in Gaza helicopter crash
  • The military said it was investigating the cause of the crash
  • The seven injured had been evacuated to hospital for treatment

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said Wednesday that an army helicopter crashed in the south of war-ravaged Gaza overnight, killing two soldiers and injuring seven.
“An initial inquiry... indicates that the crash was not caused by enemy fire... Two IDF (Israeli) soldiers were killed as a result of the crash,” the military said in a statement, adding that the seven injured had been evacuated to hospital for treatment.
The military said it was investigating the cause of the crash, which occurred when the helicopter was landing near the southern city of Rafah.
The latest deaths bring the military’s losses in the Gaza campaign to 344 since the start of the ground offensive on October 27.
The war erupted after Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures, which also include hostages killed in captivity.
During the attack militants abducted 251 people, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,020 people, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, which does not provide details of civilian and militant deaths.
The United Nations human rights office says most of the dead in Gaza are women and children.