Sudanese Lose Compass of Displacement 

Sudanese lose compass of displacement amid dire living conditions. Millions of Sudanese trapped amid the pincers of fighting are in a state of “disorientation” amid a horrific deterioration in humanitarian and health conditions. More than 25 million of the country’s 42 million people need urgent food assistance. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the escalating fighting in Gezira state has forced more than 150 children from their homes in just one week.

After the tense situation in the city of Hassahisa, located between Wad Madani, the capital of Gezira state, and the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Wednesday morning, Ahmed Sharif’s family left the city with hundreds of other families, but without a specific destination, as those fleeing the fighting lack a compass to determine their destination in light of the decline in the map of safe areas due to the rapid expansion of the war in most regions of the country, especially the vast central regions.

Mahmoud, the eldest son of Sharif’s family, said: “We decided to use a small wooden boat to cross the Blue Nile and try to head east in search of a safe area where we can land, even temporarily. After suffering and two days of travel, during which we used animals at times, and old trucks at other times, we were able to reach the outskirts of the city of Gedarif, which is about 240 kilometres from Wad Madani, but as soon as we arrived, we were surprised by our predecessors preparing to go elsewhere amid rumours of imminent battles in the city, which remained until the entry of the ninth month away from the areas of fighting.”

“It seems that we will be on the run, because the tension is widening day by day, very quickly.”

Millions of Sudanese trapped amid the pincers of fighting that has been going on since mid-April between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are in a state of “disorientation” amid a horrific deterioration in humanitarian and health conditions.

According to Nazik Ibn Auf, head of Sudan Physicians for Human Rights (Khartoum office), the real danger lies in the fact that most of the displaced suffer from health problems, and some have been cut off from life-saving medical services such as dialysis and intensive care for heart patients, after all hospitals in the main central regions such as Wad Madani and Hasahiasa were completely out of service due to the current security situation.

“Dozens of patients die every day due to the loss of health care and safe shelter,” Ibn Auf said.

The medical official pointed out that the drug stocks are depleted in many areas, with no hope in light of the withdrawal of United Nations agencies of their teams and activities due to the expansion of the war in Gezira state, which was an important logistical centre for humanitarian and health services after its closure in Khartoum more than 8 months ago, and about 95% of hospitals there are out of service.

Videos and pictures uploaded by activists on social media show a large crowd of new people fleeing the centre of the country in several eastern Sudanese cities, such as Gedaref and Kassala, about 500 km from the capital Khartoum.