UN Food Program Suspends Aid in Sudanese Camp due to Escalating Violence
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) announced on Wednesday that it was halting aid operations at Sudan’s Zamzam displaced persons camp in North Darfur due to escalating violence between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and armed groups allied with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). Zamzam camp, home to about 500,000 people, is the only place in the world where an ongoing famine has been officially confirmed.
A WFP press release said that the organization was left with “no choice but to evacuate staff for safety” due to heavy shelling in the camp. “Without immediate assistance, thousands of desperate families in Zamzam could starve in the coming weeks,” Laurent Bukera, WFP regional director for Eastern Africa, said.
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The announcement came just two days after Doctors Without Borders announced it was suspending activities in Zamzam due to the escalating violence.
Fighting between the SAF and RSF, poor weather conditions, and purposeful obstruction caused by the RSF have all stymied attempts to provide aid in Zamzam. Since a famine was declared in Zamzam in August, the WFP has managed to bring just one convoy of humanitarian aid to the camp.
The WFP and partner organizations provide food to about 300,000 of the camp’s residents, but increased fighting meant that it reached only 60,000 residents this month, the group said. That, combined with the destruction of the camp’s central market in a recent attack, makes starvation a real possibility for the camp’s residents.
