A dramatic surge in displacement over the past three months is pushing the small town of Tawila in Sudan’s North Darfur into a full-scale humanitarian crisis.
As the rainy season begins, hundreds of thousands of people who have just escaped extreme violence and famine now face the compounded threats of torrential storms, a spreading cholera outbreak, and spiraling hunger.
Since April 2025, Tawila has absorbed nearly 379,000 people, the vast majority of whom are women (70%), children, and people with disabilities. They are fleeing repeated campaigns of mass destruction and a year-long siege on Zamzam Camp and Al Fasher, where famine has been officially confirmed. Many arrived on foot after days of fleeing for their lives, overwhelming the local community and aid organizations. Four new camps have been established to manage the spiraling numbers, but prepositioned aid for the rainy season is already depleted.
“The situation in Tawila is collapsing,” said Shashwat Saraf, Country Director for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). “Families are surviving on scraps, sleeping in the dirt under roofs made out of straw, with barely any access to clean water and toilets. Cases of cholera are rising, and the rainy season is approaching fast, making living conditions more miserable.”
A June 2025 NRC assessment across four new camps housing 213,000 people revealed dire conditions: only 10% of people have reliable access to water. Less than 10% of households have access to latrines, leaving over 31,000 households without. Most families report eating only one meal a day or less. Only 11 temporary learning spaces exist, leaving a significant number of children out of school. 39% of women are pregnant or lactating, and 22% of households include people with disabilities, highlighting a critical lack of proper services and support.
The displaced families are survivors of extreme violence, including the April 2025 raid on Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps, which left up to 400 people dead, many raped, and aid workers killed. Since April 2023, 782,000 people have been displaced from Al Fasher and Zamzam, with nearly 500,000 fleeing in April and May 2025 alone.
A separate assessment by aid agencies and local authorities in Al Fasher found that 38% of children under five at displacement sites are suffering from acute malnutrition, with 11% experiencing severe acute malnutrition.
“The window for saving thousands of lives is closing fast,” Saraf warned. “We need funding and decisive action from the world’s leaders to get aid trucks and relief teams to Tawila—without delays and restrictions from the warring parties—before this spirals completely out of control.”
ABJ/APA