Displaced People in Kosti Cry Out: We Want Peace and to Return to Our Homes
Survey - Moatinoon
Words came out of the mouth of the displaced woman (S) mixed with deep sadness and sorrow as she described the situation in one of the displaced centers in the city of Kosti in the White Nile State. She said that the war forced them to leave their homes in Khartoum, after they lost their safety while living under artillery and aircraft shelling. The nearest escape route from the wars hell was leading to Kosti, where they were received in shelter centers set up in schools scattered across the city.
(S) continued in her statement to Citizens: We thought that the battles wouldnt last long between the army and the Rapid Support Forces. We thought it was just a matter of days or a few weeks, and we would return to our homes. So we left with only our clothes, and now five months have passed and we are living in a bad and tragic situation. There are not enough meals; we get only one meal a day. There is no available treatment, and we are forced to sleep on the ground. We want peace and to return to our homes.
A tour by Citizens revealed a significant absence of the voluntary organizations work in the displaced centers spread across the citys schools. These centers house thousands of families, unlike the displaced people who were hosted by their families and relatives in the city. The displaced people in these centers suffer from several problems, primarily food and health, especially with the peak of the autumn season approaching, while they sleep on the ground under the open sky. Malaria is spreading among them with the proliferation of mosquitoes, and children, in particular, suffer from malnutrition due to the scarcity of daily meals.
A teacher in the elementary stage, who was forced to flee from Khartoum to Kosti due to the poor conditions of the shelter centers, is suffering from diabetes and supports six children. In addition to her camp situation, she hasnt received her salary since the outbreak of the war until now, which has made me unable to do anything for my children and myself to cope with the shortages in all our needs. She made an appeal to organizations to activate their role in responding to the requirements and needs of the displaced people.
Calls for stopping the war and bringing peace resonate loudly among the displaced people, who are living under the weight of suffering since fleeing from the hell several months ago, only to find themselves trapped in an even worse situation. Children and women are particularly affected by this abnormal situation.
(Maryam), who has been in the shelter center for two and a half months since arriving from Khartoum, says, We have settled in schools where there is no care or attention. They give us one meal a day without a set schedule, maybe the meal is served around 11 at night.
She added with great sorrow, We want peace, we dont want war. We fled from our homes for the sake of our safety, and we want peace in general.
She said that her children suffer the most from not getting enough food and not finding treatment and medicine most of the time.
UNICEF, the organization concerned with children, revealed that Sudan witnesses the displacement of over 700 new children every hour and warned that the future of Sudans children is at stake without peace.
In a statement, it said that the war has forced at least two million children to leave their homes since the conflict erupted in Sudan four months ago. Of those, 1.7 million are displaced within Sudans borders, while more than 470,000 children have crossed into neighboring countries.
It warned that nearly 700,000 children suffer from severe acute malnutrition, putting them at extreme risk of not surviving without treatment.
Save the Children had mentioned on Tuesday that hundreds of children have died of hunger, most of them from displaced families in Khartoum.
Amid the absence of voluntary organizations working in this field, the organization Sudanese Without Borders is attempting to fill a gap to the best of its abilities, especially in the cities of Kosti in the White Nile State and Madani in the Gezira State.
Sudanese Without Borders is a volunteer humanitarian organization founded by a group of Sudanese residing in the United States. Its aim is to provide support and assistance to Sudanese affected by the ongoing war in Sudan. It has worked on providing humanitarian aid and alleviating the suffering faced by individuals affected by the consequences of the conflict.
One of the volunteers in the organization said, We at Sudanese Without Borders consider ourselves a good example of the unity and solidarity that can emerge in the Sudanese community abroad to support their homeland in times of crisis.
She added, We are trying to provide what we can in such circumstances to alleviate the suffering of the displaced people.
According to reports from international organizations working in the field of migration and displacement, more than four million people inside and outside Sudan have been displaced due to the conflict that erupted on April 15. Nearly 3.3 million people have been displaced until August 8, according to the International Organization for Migrations displacement tracking matrix. People have been displaced in all eighteen states, mostly to the states of White Nile, Northern, North Darfur, and Blue Nile, and about 71% of these displaced people are originally from Khartoum.
