Food shortages, collapsing services worsen conditions in Sudan’s El Obeid

The humanitarian situation in Sudan’s city of El Obeid is extremely poor and continues to deteriorate, according to eyewitnesses, as civilians displaced by fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continue to arrive from surrounding rural areas.

UN reports say more than 15,000 families have arrived since mid-July, adding to more than 200,000 people who arrived during the first half of the year, according to government figures cited by Save the Children, an international humanitarian organisation.

Maryam, a humanitarian volunteer, said the situation was harsh and steadily worsening as the city receives displaced people every day, adding that El Obeid has become shockingly overcrowded.

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She said the new arrivals had walked to the city carrying almost nothing. They were suffering from food shortages and arriving in a state of psychological distress, according to Britain’s The Guardian.

The city, the capital of North Kordofan state, had a population of about half a million before the war began more than three years ago. While some displaced people have been accommodated within the city, tens of thousands are living in two main tent camps.

An analysis of satellite data by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab found that 800 new tents had appeared in one of the camps between 4 and 25 August.

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