- Title: REFILE: Rain and floods add to misery of Sudanese displaced by war
- Date: 29th July 2024
- Summary: KASSALA, SUDAN (JULY 26, 2024) (OBTAINED BY REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BOY NEXT FLOOD WATER AND HALF-SUBMERGED UNITED NATIONS TENT DISPLACED PEOPLE WITH BELONGINGS AMID FLOOD CLOTHES HANGING ABOVE FLOOD WATER CHILDREN ON FLOOD WATER KASSALA, SUDAN (JULY 29, 2024) (OBTAINED BY REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED SUDANESE, NO NAME GIVEN, SAYING: "We were surprised by the water, we had two children and an old woman who were martyred. We are waiting in the street and have nowhere to settle." KASSALA, SUDAN (JULY 26, 2024) (OBTAINED BY REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DISPLACED PEOPLE AT FLOODED CAMP PEOPLE QUEUING WITH POTS BEHIND A TRUCK KASSALA, SUDAN (JULY 29, 2024) (OBTAINED BY REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED SUDANESE, NADA OMER, SAYING: "Until now, we cannot find a place to stay in. We endured the sun beating down on us, but we can't handle the rain. We enter here, they get us out. This restaurant's owner lets us inside but we go out by morning. He tells us to get out and we have young children, and we got out." KASSALA, SUDAN (JULY 26, 2024) (OBTAINED BY REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FLOODED CAMP KASSALA, SUDAN (JULY 29, 2024) (OBTAINED BY REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MANAGER OF CAMP, AHMED HUSSEIN, SAYING: "The situation is not yet clear with the increasing numbers of the displaced people who are being moved quickly. People are still in the streets. This situation needs a firm stance which is bigger than the capabilities of the state of Kassala. The central government must intervene especially in terms of health and the humanitarian situation. This issue can lead to epidemics which might cause harm." KASSALA, SUDAN (JULY 26, 2024) (OBTAINED BY REUTERS) PEOPLE ON ROAD
- Embargoed: 12th August 2024 19:15
- Keywords: Conflict Displacement camps Kassala RSF SAF Sudan War
- Location: KASSALA, SUDAN
- City: KASSALA, SUDAN
- Country: Sudan
- Topics: Africa,Disaster/Accidents,Floods
- Reuters ID: LVA001275429072024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Thousands of people are stranded on the streets of the eastern Sudanese city of Kassala as a deluge of rain compounds the suffering of more than a million Sudanese who sought refuge in the region from a 15-month-old war.
The rainy season that began earlier this month has already damaged shelters, made roads unusable, and will put millions at risk of water-borne diseases across large areas of the country.
It comes as the number of displaced people within Sudan, currently more than 10 million, continues to tick up as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) expands its territory in the war with the national army.
The war erupted in April 2023 and has sparked warnings of famine and what the United Nations has labeled the world's largest humanitarian crisis.
Some 765,000 people are sheltering in Gedaref state, and more than 255,000 people are in Kassala state, which saw the worst of the rains over the weekend, according to the United Nations.
The most recent wave of 165,000 people is from Sennar state, many arriving on foot in the rain in recent weeks. More than 10,000 who arrived in Kassala city were packed in the few remaining empty buildings, including a school courtyard and an empty hangar, which quickly flooded with water.
"We endured the sun beating down on us, but we can't handle the rain," said Nada Omer.
They now wait under store awnings or tarps in the street, with heavier than usual rains expected to continue until September. Some have rejected a plan to move them outside the city, a government official and aid workers said, where there would be few income opportunities.
"We are waiting in the street and have nowhere to settle," said another displaced person.
At least five people have reportedly been killed because of the rains, according to the United Nations.
Those who arrived earlier from Khartoum or El Gezira state, or in slightly drier al-Gedaref, are not much better off, sleeping on the floor in schools with few services and makeshift, shallow toilets that have also been flooded.
The government and aid workers are bracing for the expected rise in water-borne diseases, including cholera, malaria, and dengue fever, with few medicines to treat them.
Kassala, the only neighboring army-controlled state, does not have capacity to absorb people from Gedaref, nor does the army's de facto capital Port Sudan, on the Red Sea.
(Production: Mohamed Abdulmajid, El Tayeb Siddig, Gerardo Gomez, Mai Shams El-Din) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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