ALBAWABA - Citing the health chief in the civilian administration that runs Tawila in North Darfur, The Guardian revealed that at least 10 children die of hunger every day in refugee camps.
Tens of thousands of refugees from war-torn El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, 70 km to the east, have taken up residence in Tawila in recent months, overloading the town's only operating medical facility.
Aisha Hussien Yagoub, health chief in the civilian administration that runs Tawila in North Darfur, stated: "We anticipate that the exact number of children dying of hunger is much higher. Many of those displaced from El Fasher are living far from our clinic, and are unable to reach it,".
Hussien stated that she knew of 19 women who died during labor in the first two weeks of July alone. Still, more people have died as a result of untreated injuries experienced during fighting in El Fasher's two refugee camps, Abu Shouk and Zamzam.
The city has been under siege for months by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary organization fighting with allied militia in a deadly civil war against the Sudanese army and its supporters.
Tawila, which was the site of intense fighting last year, is the closest area of relative safety for refugees who managed to flee through El Fasher's western gate, the city's only available exit route.
Tawila's civil administration was founded by the Sudan Liberation Army, a rebel organization that assumed control of the territory following the army and RSF withdrawals. Until recently, women were scared to go out and collect firewood or grass for their animals for fear of being raped by militiamen who patrolled the town's perimeter.
