Food shortage in Darfur camps

Food shortage in Darfur camps
Refugees across the province complain of insufficient supply

Refugees from various camps across North, South and West Darfur complained on Thursday about acute food shortage.

In West Darfur's Zalingei camps, refugees said they were facing severe food shortage because of reduced food rations.

A displaced person in the camp told Radio Dabanga that the higher
cost of food and shortage of food rations is leading to homelessness,
begging and child labor. All family members have begun looking for work.

The coordinator of the Zalingei camps told Radio Dabanga, “Since
refugees don't have a livelihood, the lack of food rations has led to
serious health and social problems. The World Food Program (WFP) should
go back on its decision to supply food through traders.”

The refugees had expressed their discontent previously with traders in the region supplying them food rations provided by the WFP.

Food rations delayed in Kalma

The humanitarian coordinator of Kalma camps in South Darfur
complained of a two-month delay in receiving food rations from the WFP.

He told Radio Dabanga, “The delay in food rations has led to the
spread of diseases and malnutrition among children and pregnant women.”
The coordinator suspected that the delay in food rations was due to the
refugees' unresponsiveness to the WFP's re-registration proposal.

The WFP had proposed a re-registration plan for the camp residents in order to issue new identity cards in October.

The coordinator demanded an explanation from the WFP for the delay in
food distribution and said that the displaced had no other choice but
to depend on food rations.

Refugees pay for food rations in Garsila

In West Darfur's Garsila camps, severe food shortage and delays in
receiving rations from the WFP led to refugees working outside the camps
for a meagerly amount of less than five Sudanese pounds a day.

A leader in the camps told Radio Dabanga that no reasons were
provided to the refugees regarding the delay in receiving food rations.