Displaying items by tag: Zamzam

Over 18,500 Sudanese refugees have fled into eastern Chad in the past two weeks, following devastating attacks on the Zamzam displacement camp and the city of al-Fasher in Darfur. The 11 April assault by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) left at least 400 dead in Zamzam after months of starvation and siege. Eyewitnesses report widespread atrocities including executions, torture, and sexual violence. The RSF destroyed the camp’s only medical centre, killing nine aid workers, and burned large sections of the camp. Once home to 500,000 people, Zamzam is now nearly abandoned. Many fleeing refugees, including children and pregnant women, are severely malnourished and traumatised. Chad, already hosting 1.3 million refugees - nearly 800,000 from Sudan - is overwhelmed and struggling to provide adequate shelter, food, and medical care. UNHCR officials, fearing more suffering ahead as the humanitarian situation deteriorates rapidly, are calling for urgent international assistance and intervention.