Hundreds of people fleeing fighting in the Central African Republic have crossed into Sudan’s South Darfur state, with local officials appealing for urgent humanitarian assistance.
More than 135 families have arrived in the border area of Sandama after escaping clashes in and around the town of Um Dafuq, according to local officials. Most of the new arrivals are women, children and elderly people.
Abu al-Qasim Abdullah Ajawid, an official in Sandama, told Darfur24 that a temporary camp had been established outside the area to accommodate the displaced families.
He said local residents had provided initial assistance, but resources were limited as the number of arrivals continued to place pressure on the community.
Zakaria Youssef, a representative of those who fled the Central African Republic, said the families had travelled from the Dongori area near Um Dafuq after fighting erupted there.
Many made the journey to Sudan on foot, covering long distances in difficult conditions.
Youssef said poor roads, heavy rainfall and flooding along seasonal waterways had slowed the journey, with some families taking around two weeks to reach Sandama.
He called on humanitarian organisations to urgently provide plastic sheeting, mosquito nets, food and drinking water, saying local residents had so far been the main source of assistance for the new arrivals.
The influx comes as Sandama is already facing serious health challenges.
Bashir Abdullah Ajawid, a medical worker in the area, said cases of schistosomiasis had increased among both local residents and the newly arrived families amid severe shortages of medicines and a lack of adequate healthcare facilities.
He said malaria cases had declined, but warned that the area’s limited health services were under growing strain as it accommodated both its existing population and hundreds of people arriving from the Central African Republic.
Al-Sharif al-Sawar Ali, an official with the Sudanese Agency for Relief and Humanitarian Operations, also appealed to international organisations to intervene urgently.
He said hundreds of children were in immediate need of food, clean water, medicine and shelter supplies.
Sandama lies south of Rahad al-Bardi, around 160 kilometres southwest of Nyala, near Sudan’s border with the Central African Republic.
Um Dafuq witnessed clashes in July between Central African government forces and an opposition armed group. The group briefly seized control of the area before government forces later recaptured it.
