Sudan: Missing People of Zamzam

Days have passed, and Fatima Khater, a survivor of the recent violence at Zamzam displacement camp near El Fasher, is still searching for her children. Many families were separated amidst the chaos that plagued Zamzam Camp after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) raided the area earlier this month.

Fatima Khater, 45, told Ayin she does not know whether her four children are still alive or among the dead whose bodies litter the streets of the camp, once home to nearly half a million displaced people.

According to Mohammed Khamis Doda, a spokesman for the displaced in Zamzam camp, hundreds of children and dozens of women are still missing. Khamis estimates that over 500 people have been killed while hundreds of others have been kidnapped and taken prisoner. It is too early to estimate the number of people missing since thousands have fled to remote areas and communication networks remain limited, he added.

Desperate search

“Despite the dangers of moving between the camps of those fleeing Zamzam and neighbouring areas, I continue to wander and search for my children. I searched for them in several places in the areas south and southwest of the camp, around the Tawila locality and the Shaqra areas, but I did not find them, and no one told me anything about them,” Fatima Khater said.

“I tried several times to return to our home in Zamzam camp because they were inside the house when the camp was attacked. However, members of the RSF prevented me from entering the camp.” Khater says she found dozens of women searching for loved ones around the camp. They were all as distraught as Khater herself.

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On the third day of the RSF control of the camp, a commander known as “Shorba” warned a gathering of displaced people in the town of Salouma, south of Zamzam camp, against returning. “No one is allowed to return to the camp at this time before we take control of El Fasher,” he said.

In a similar disappearance, a survivor from Zamzam camp, Salwa Jar al-Nabi, reported losing contact with one of her sons, who fled to El Fasher. She and the rest of her family were displaced to Shangil Tobay, southwest of El Fasher.

“The last piece of information I received was that my Ahmed fled with one of the neighbours’ sons from the camp to the city of El Fasher, but I do not know exactly where he is–inside the city or whether he has moved to another location.”

Salwa expressed her fear that her 15-year-old son would be forced to take up arms to defend El Fasher, especially given the state of alert being led by the joint forces, which are mobilising volunteers to defend the city.

123 missing children

Fatima Khater and Salwa Jar al-Nabi are not the only ones searching for missing people. Hundreds of people from Zamzam camp are searching for their loved ones, not knowing whether they are alive or dead. Mohammed Saleh Abdullah, a volunteer at the camp before his displacement, revealed that they had received 123 reports of missing children from Zamzam camp before they were able to locate 16 of them inside El Fasher.

Saleh told Ayin that the number of missing persons is still much higher than the reports they have received, given that many fled in multiple directions, especially to the western and northwestern regions, at a time when there are high risks during the search for the missing.

Data from the United Nations’ International Organisation for Migration (IOM) revealed that between 60,000 and 80,000 families have been displaced from Zamzam camp. The organisation estimated the number of displaced persons to be more than 400,000, or roughly ⅘ of the camp residents after the four-day siege earlier this month.

Women and children make up about 88% of those who fled, according to UNHCR regional official Abdel Raouf Ghonoun Konde.

The Darfur region, which comprises about a fifth of Sudan’s land area, has witnessed the most intense fighting recently. Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are attempting to seize control of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, the last major city remaining outside their control in the region.