Sudanese civil committees provide essential help to displaced citizens

Sudanese volunteers are preparing to welcome refugees from across the country as over 700,000 internally displaced citizens flee the intense conflict between the Sudanese Army led by General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces, led by his deputy and rival, General Mohamed Ibrahim Daglo. 

In the city of Rufaa, three hours’ drive to the south-east of Khartoum, local residents are getting ready for a surge of people fleeing the fighting in the capital. 

The emergency centre in Rufaa, organised by the local al-Nahda youth committee, says it is providing “psychological and material support to those affected by the war, arriving from Khartoum province”. 

According to the centre, they are expecting a huge spike in arrivals if humanitarian corridors are opened from the capital. 

“We have at least five buildings ready, with hundreds of beds for guests,” said the centre on Tuesday.

تحضيرات غرفة طوارئ مدينة رفاعة لاستقبال الضيوف من ولاية الخرطوم.#لا_للحرب#سوا_بنقدر pic.twitter.com/0Rwe9O3EFm

— منظمة شباب النهضة الخيرية (@YRCORUFAA) May 9, 2023

The centre has been running in Rufaa for nearly a decade - but has never been in a similar situation before. 
 
Rufaa now has a private room for psychological assessment, provisions for emergency medical care - and even 10 washing machines for guests to clean their clothes after long journeys. 

Much of the city has been preparing whole-scale for more arrivals from Khartoum. 

“The hospital has begun to ready itself for the arrival of wounded victims from the capital,” said al-Nahda. 

To many Sudanese, the centre represents an enduring spirit of hospitality that has remained in place while the state fails to provide any assistance to its citizens. 

“I’m so proud of our young people, whose efforts are so full of love for this city. They’ve prepared medical services, repurposed sports halls and done everything to make sure we’re ready to receive people fleeing Khartoum,” said resident Nidal Saad. 

“Resistance committees around the country are delivering the free housing and care that the state has over years ripped apart through austerity and predation,” tweeted stillSUDAN. 

Resistance committees around the country are delivering the free housing and care that the state has over years ripped apart through austerity and predation. https://t.co/4Mplk8fVfF

— StillSUDAN (@StillSUDAN) May 10, 2023

But while local resistance committees are doing everything they can to fill the gaps as the state crumbles, the number of Sudanese internally displaced by the fighting continues to rise dramatically. 

The conflict has created a humanitarian crisis in Africa's third largest nation, displacing more than 700,000 people inside the country and prompting 150,000 to flee to neighbouring states.