Humanitarian organizations in Sudan say they have evacuated hundreds of children who were trapped at an orphanage in Khartoum due to continuous conflict between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The International Committee of the Red Cross stated in a statement on Thursday that more than 280 children and 70 caregivers were evacuated from the Mygoma Orphanage to a “safer location outside the capital.”
“They have had a difficult time in an area where conflict has raged for the past six weeks, and they have been deprived of adequate health care,” said Jean-Christophe Sandoz, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) team in Sudan.
After their orphanage was damaged in intense combat, the children, aged one month to fifteen years, were evacuated to Wad Medani, a city roughly 200 kilometers from Khartoum.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said it has guaranteed that the transit center where the children have been relocated is fully prepared. The agency also stated that it is working with the appropriate authorities to find foster families for the children.
“The safe movement of these incredibly vulnerable children to a place of safety offers a ray of light in the midst of the ongoing conflict in Sudan,” said Mandeep O’Brien, UNICEF’s representative in the country.
According to Hadhreen, a volunteer organization that runs the orphanage, 71 children have died in the state-run Mygoma Orphanage since a fight between the country’s army and paramilitaries started in mid-April.
According to local medics, they died as a result of extreme hunger and dehydration as the humanitarian crisis deepened.
According to UNICEF, more than 13.6 million children in Sudan are still at risk and in critical need of life-saving help. According to the agency, $838 million is needed to address the humanitarian catastrophe.
Since April 15, intense confrontations and bombardments in Khartoum and sister cities have killed hundreds of civilians and injured over 5,000 others, according to the World Health Organization. According to the International Organization for Migration, over one million individuals have been compelled to depart Sudan.
