The situation in western Sudan’s Darfur region is reported to be worsening. The humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders says as many as 100-thousand Sudanese are at risk as a result of fighting in the region.
The group, also known as MSF, says 10-thousand people have fled two camps in Nyala, the largest city in Darfur. It happened after the government for unknown reasons tried to move them on Wednesday to other locations. Dr. Mercedes Tatay is with Doctors Without Borders. From Paris, she spoke to English to Africa reporter Joe De Capua late Thursday about the situation in Darfur. She says many villages have been burned.
Many people were “spread around Nyala in two impromptu camps, where between 50 and 150 newly displaced arrived every day.” She says the death rate for children under five “is alarming.” Shelter and hygiene conditions are said to be quite poor. The whereabouts of those who left the camps around Nyala are unknown.
The Darfur region has been an area of conflict for about a year and an estimated 600,000 people have been displaced. At least 95,000 Sudanese refugees have crossed the border into eastern Chad.
Click above links to listen or download De Capua interview with Dr. Tatay.