from RAJI BASHIR in Khartoum, Sudan
Sudan Bureau
KHARTOUM, (CAJ News) – NORTH Darfur has transformed into one of Sudan’s largest displacement hubs as more than 100,000 people flee ongoing violence in Al Fasher and nearby villages.
According to humanitarian responders, families have been arriving since late October exhausted, dehydrated, and in urgent need of food, water, and shelter. Tens of thousands more remain unaccounted for amid the chaos.
What was already a vast camp earlier this year has now expanded into a “mega-settlement,” with thousands of new arrivals each day.
Many are searching desperately for missing relatives after being separated during their escape.
Humanitarian groups warn that water, sanitation, and shelter systems are failing to keep pace with the rapid influx, raising the risk of disease outbreaks as nights grow colder.
Reception points in Tawila are overwhelmed as families queue for blankets, shelter materials, and food registration.
Meanwhile, thousands of civilians remain stranded outside the town in areas controlled by armed groups, where movement is restricted, extortion is reported, and aid cannot safely reach them.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) reports registering more than 10,000 newly arrived individuals and providing cash assistance to roughly 2,000 families.
The organisation has also enrolled over 2,000 children in emergency education and psychosocial support programmes. NRC teams are supporting local responders through water trucking, food distributions, communal kitchens, and camp management.
Noah Taylor, NRC’s Head of Operations in Sudan, recently returned from Tawila. He described the scene as a “makeshift city rising out of the desert,” noting that the settlement has grown far beyond the 200,000 people it hosted in May.
Taylor said families continue to arrive “exhausted and hungry,” many searching for relatives still missing after the latest violence. One man, he said, walked 18 days from Al Fasher using a single crutch after being injured.
Taylor warned that 18 months of siege, fighting, and the collapse of services in Al Fasher have left civilians with few options.
At least 5,000 families are currently living in makeshift shelters of “blankets and sticks” on Tawila’s outskirts.
“Unless a major surge of aid arrives, conditions will deteriorate very quickly,” he said.
NRC is expanding education, psychosocial support, registration, and cash assistance, but the organisation says safe access and increased funding are urgently needed.
– CAJ News