Severe Shelter Shortages Threaten Hundreds of Thousands at Sudan's Tawila Camp Amid Looming Famine

At the Daba Naira camp in Tawila, located 68 kilometres west of el-Fasher in war-torn North Darfur, Sudan, blue tents stand in tight rows. These shelters were established by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) with backing from the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority. Although relief teams have set up 3,000 new tents in recent months, the IOM notes that this figure is negligible relative to the needs of over 665,000 displaced individuals. As the rainy season approaches, low-lying ground threatens to turn into swamps, raising urgent questions about how these limited shelters can possibly suffice.

Abdelbagi Mohamed Hamid, the minister of social welfare and humanitarian affairs coordinator in the Darfur region, informed Al Jazeera Arabic that the regional government reached out to donors, including the Turkish ambassador, to secure tents for the displaced population. Consequently, Turkiye arranged for 30,000 tents to be distributed across Darfur and Kordofan via the IOM. Abdelbagi detailed that 3,000 of the 6,000 anticipated tents were erected at the Daba Naira camp in Tawila, while another 2,450 arrived at the Salam, al-Wihda, and al-Nakheel camps in Shaeria locality across South and East Darfur. He identified Malha locality as having the most critical humanitarian need in Darfur, followed by Tina, Karnoy, and Um Baru.

Stressing the necessity of opening the Tina border crossing to deliver aid to isolated areas facing severe shortages of food, medicine, and fuel, Abdelbagi warned that shelter alone cannot resolve the crisis. He cautioned that an impending famine could prove deadlier than the war itself as humanitarian organizations struggle to reach affected locations.

The arrival of the new tents coincided with the onset of the rainy season and camp fires, exacerbating the plight of displaced residents living under tattered canopies. The IOM has warned that Tawila faces escalating humanitarian needs, service deterioration, and disease outbreaks like cholera due to a lack of clean drinking water, leading to watery diarrhoea and skin infections in overcrowded camps lacking basic sanitation.

Ahmed Mousa, a displaced man from el-Fasher staying in the Daba Naira camp, told Al Jazeera that the new tents fail to cover even a tenth of the camp's requirements, leaving people exposed to rain and children sick without proper care. Similarly, Fatima Ibrahim shared that many families sleep on bare ground without protection from extreme temperatures, stating they are "dropping like flies from hunger and disease."

Al-Sadiq Barango, the Minister of Agriculture in the Government of Darfur region, stated that famine poses a greater danger than war amid declining seasonal rains and failing agriculture. Meanwhile, Adam Rijal, spokesperson for the Coordination of Displaced Persons and Refugees, emphasized that "Tawila is not just numbers," noting that needs vastly outstrip capacities and warning of further deaths among children and the elderly.

Relief operations continue to face severe hurdles due to difficult terrain and checkpoints controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which is currently fighting the Sudanese government. Local activists report that aid trucks frequently face looting and extortion, forcing many displaced individuals to walk long distances for sparse food rations or go weeks without assistance.