September 19, Zalingei — In a displacement camp in Zalingei, capital of Central Darfur, Hawa Hassan and her five children have not had a proper meal for three days, subsisting only on “qonqo,” the remnants of porridge stuck to the cooking pot.
Hawa, a widow who lost her husband to a stray bullet during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the army in Central Darfur, told Darfur24 that she is living “a real tragedy” after losing her husband and home in the Hassahissa camp, which was looted and vandalized.
“I moved to one of the displacement centers hoping to find security, food, and medicine,” Hawa said. “But I only found crums that come intermittently from some national organizations and community initiatives, which are not enough to sustain a week.”
Thousands of displaced people in camps within the city of Zalingei, capital of Central Darfur are facing the threat of starvation due to a severe lack of food and humanitarian aid.
“The situation in the displacement centers has made the displaced people like prisoners awaiting their sentence,” Hawa said. “We are now waiting for the war to stop so we can return to our homes and find work to support our children. No one cares about us.”
Allegedly the cost of a portion of corn is about 20,000 Sudanese pounds, excluding the cost of grinding. Sources told Darfur24 that many families have left the displacement camps within Zalingei due to health, social and security problems.
In a press release, The General Coordination Committee for the Displaced and Refugees called on the international and regional community to exert maximum pressure on the parties to the conflict to immediately stop the war and not use food as a weapon to starve the displaced and civilians in Darfur and across Sudan.
The statement said that most of the displaced have been eating one meal every two to three days due to scarcity, high prices in the markets, and their inability to buy food, confirming that some have resorted to relying on herbs and food waste that is used locally as animal feed.
Despite Sudan being one of the world’s largest displacement crises, many humanitarian organizations have not returned since evacuating at the war’s onset last year. Doctors Without Borders said there is a “humanitarian void” in Central Darfur.