Fleeing Death to Hunger.. A Harsh Week Encircles Displaced People from Darfur in Chad

SadaNews - Under the shade of a lone tree in the Ardimi refugee camp in eastern Chad, 45-year-old Umm Surayya Mukhtar reminisces about a life that was once safe before war uprooted her.

A week ago, the sound of explosions and shelling forced her to leave her home in the Orshi area, leaving behind her years and dreams, carrying only the identity of displacement that pursues her like a shadow.

Surayya says: "I left without realizing I wouldn’t return. I carried my children and ran, with fire behind us and bullets over our heads. We haven’t eaten for two days, and my children are crying from hunger. I don’t know how I will feed them tomorrow, or where I will sleep tonight."

Surayya is one of thousands of women bearing the burden of displacement, and in their eyes lies an endless tale of fear, hunger, and wandering, silently searching for a drop of water for their children who ask every day: When will we return to our home?

On June 15, 2026, Rapid Support Forces launched a large-scale attack on the Orshi area in the Ambru locality in western Sudan, using military vehicles and fighters on horseback and camels.

The attack resulted in the complete burning of 10 villages, the looting and burning of the Orshi market, as well as the looting of a large number of livestock and household properties.

Living in the Open

A week after the attack, thousands of displaced families still live in the open, without shelter, food, or medicine. They sleep on hard ground, under trees that offer no protection from the daytime heat or the night’s cold; some cover themselves with dry branches, while others do not even have that.

Sudanese Sovereignty Council member Salah Rassas Adam Tur stated, "Darfuris are an integral part of the components of the Sudanese people," warning that calls for division are "mere delusions" aimed at destabilizing the country.

Rassas added that the ongoing military operations aim to "break the bones" of the Rapid Support Forces, confirming that "targeting civilians and displacing them is not a tactical mistake but a systematic policy followed by the Rapid Support Forces to change the demographic composition in the region."

He emphasized that "continuation of this policy will lead to an uncontrollable humanitarian catastrophe, and the state is seeking to put an end to it by eliminating the Rapid Support Forces, urging the international community to intervene to stop what he described as "the forced displacement of civilians."

However, the reality of the displaced people under the trees in the villages and valleys of Orshi paints a completely different picture. While leaders discuss military strategies, civilians pay a heavy price, and declared policies turn into daily suffering.

Hunger and Thirst

Water is the primary complaint. After the destruction of the Orshi reservoir, water has been cut off from the burned villages and the newly displaced. Hawa Adam (35), displaced from Orshi to the Chadian region of Tine, tells Al Jazeera: "We traveled long distances before reaching Tine, and along the way, we ate tree leaves and drank from contaminated water that we found in holes."

She adds: "Food is almost non-existent, and what little provisions remained were looted by the Rapid Support Forces, or burned in the homes."

For her part, Um Ibrahim (40) recounts: "We left our homes without food or medicine. The night is the hardest, and the children cry from hunger and fear." She continues: "My children haven’t eaten for two days and are crying, and I have nothing to offer them. My husband used to work in agriculture, but our source of livelihood burned along with our home."

The disaster did not stop with the displaced within Sudan, but extended to camps in eastern Chad. Humanitarian activist and head of the Genocide Victims Agency in Darfur, Mustafa Barah, told Al Jazeera that areas such as Krenawi, Tine, and Ambru have witnessed consecutive waves of displacement over the past three months.

He adds: "After the events in Orshi and the burning of about 10 villages, refugee camps in eastern Chad receive between 70 to 80 fleeing families daily, most of whom are women and children. They arrive exhausted, without food or water, some carrying their sick children on their backs."

Risks and Limited Aid

In a new development reflecting the ongoing danger, citizen Adam Abkar told Al Jazeera: "The area is still witnessing intense drone flights targeting water sources, livestock, and civilian homes."

He added: "We cannot return to our villages. The planes fly over our heads every day and target any movement, as if they want to drive us from the last place we seek refuge in."

He continued that these ongoing aerial operations increase the suffering of the displaced, who find themselves between the hammer of bombings on their villages and the anvil of drones chasing them even in their places of refuge.

Local activists and emergency rooms are trying to provide some assistance, but resources are almost non-existent.

Mohamed Safi, media officer for the Tine emergency room, told Al Jazeera: "We are trying as much as possible to deliver water and food to the displaced, but the numbers are large and resources are very limited."

He adds, "In the past two days, we have received more than 7,000 displaced families from the Orshi, Hami, Wadi Basaw, and Idar areas, all in urgent need of tents, blankets, food, and clean drinking water. The situation requires urgent intervention from humanitarian organizations."

This suffering comes at a time when a joint report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP), released on June 17, 2026, warned that Sudan faces the worst hunger crisis in the world.

The report revealed that 19.5 million people are facing high levels of acute food insecurity, with starvation threatening 14 areas in Darfur.

From Tine to Krenawi, from Krenawi to Ambru, and from Ambru to Orshi, the area of displacement is widening, and the tragedy recurs. Leaders’ statements about "systematic displacement" find their daily translation in the eyes of children searching for a drop of water and in the feet of women covering long distances fleeing from fire.

While thousands of displaced people try to survive under the trees, amid UN warnings of an imminent famine, the bigger question remains: How many more villages will be burned? And how many families will be forced to flee before the international community takes action to stop this systematic policy.

Source: Al Jazeera