The General Coordinator of Displacement and Refugee Camps in Sudan’s Darfur Region, Yaqoub Mohamed Fori, on Friday, revealed that lack of food has driven Internally Displace Persons (IDPs) in Darfur to eat tree leaves and locusts among other unconventional foods.
He told Radio Tamazuj during an interview that the suffering of the IDPs intensified after the ongoing war erupted on 15 April 2023 because humanitarian organizations stopped supporting them in the camps.
“People complain about suffering for the last 10 months or year yet we have been suffering for the last 21 years in Darfur. The Sudanese people should have stood with the IDPs and even cooperated with the people of South Sudan. South Sudan indeed separated, but it was only geographical, and all the Sudanese people remain united,” he said. “The displaced people in Darfur are living in the worst conditions due to hunger after humanitarian aid ceased. IDPs are forced to cook tree leaves, hunt locusts, and provide them to their children to alleviate hunger. It is confirmed that many people have died in the camps due to hunger, and the recent statement by Doctors Without Borders about hunger in the camps is a stark reality.”
“The situation of the displaced worsened with the arrival of new refugees from cities fleeing the ravages of war and settling in the camps,” Mohamed added.
He explained that the Kalma camp currently accommodates a large number of displaced people from cities and all the schools and campgrounds are overcrowded and the newcomers share the stored food from the last harvest with the displaced people.
“The Port Sudan government (allied to the Sudan Armed Forces), throughout the months of the war, has only provided verbal statements in the media about the suffering of the displaced and does not take action regarding their situation,” he stated.
Mohamed urged neighboring countries to address and find a solution to the Sudanese problem, warning that failure to do so would lead to the war spreading to the region.
“Weapons are now widespread in Darfur and in the hands of groups belonging to those neighboring countries,” he warned. “It is natural that these groups will bring the war to their countries in the coming months.”