Khartoum (Fides News Agency) - The humanitarian crisis in Sudan is worsening with strong repercussions in neighboring countries especially South Sudan. The World Food Program (WFP) has sounded the alarm over the looming food crisis on the Sudan-South Sudan border, where entire families fleeing fighting in Sudan continue to cross the border.
WFP points out that "of the nearly 300,000 people who have arrived in South Sudan in the past five months, one in five children suffer from malnutrition and 90 percent of families say they go several days without eating."
Most of the people who have arrived in South Sudan are South Sudanese living in Khartoum and other parts of Sudan and forced to flee the fighting that broke out in Sudan in mid-April. Their arrival only exacerbates the situation in South Sudan, which is already facing unprecedented humanitarian needs.
"We are assisting families moving from one disaster to another as they flee danger in Sudan, only to find desperation in South Sudan," said Mary Ellen McGroarty, WFP Country Director for South Sudan.
The rainy season has made conditions more difficult in crowded transit centers and at border crossings, with flooding exacerbating food insecurity and contributing to the spread of diseases reports WFP. Several families also recounted being victims of theft and violence as they fled the war in Sudan and crossed the border into South Sudan with nothing but the clothes they were wearing.
Meanwhile in Khartoum, the fighting between the army led by General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, known as Hemedti, who have been vying for control of the Sudanese capital since April 15, does not stop. Yesterday, Oct. 3, at least10 people died in shelling attributed to the RSF. Buildings hit in Al-Samrab, a Khartoum neighborhood, included a mosque. The Ethiopian embassy was also hit with heavy weapons. The attack, attributed by the RSF to the army, reportedly caused no casualties but property damage. A few weeks ago the same embassy had been hit by an airstrike, allegedly conducted by government forces. (LM) (Fides News Agency 4/10/2023)