Examinations of 30,000 children in the SamSam refugee camp in North Darfur and in Nyala in South Darfur revealed acute malnutrition in almost a third of them, MSF emergency aid coordinator Claire San Filippo said in Nairobi.
The World Health Organization (WHO) sets the threshold for emergencies at 15 per cent, half as many as in the north-eastern African country today.
Some 11 million people have become displaced or refugees since war broke out in Sudan in April 2023. (AP PHOTO)
"At this stage, we are not talking about an emergency: We are talking about a nightmare," said San Filippo.
Regarding the around 11 million refugees and displaced people, indiscriminate bombing of civilian residential areas, destruction of health-care facilities and prevention of the delivery of humanitarian aid in Sudan's power struggle, San Filippo spoke of a "war against the civilian population."
De facto ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo have been fighting for control of Sudan since April 2023. Fighting has recently intensified, particularly in the capital Khartoum.
Sarah Easter, emergency aid spokeswoman in Germany for the international aid organisation CARE, also spoke of an escalation of the refugee crisis in eastern Chad, where 600,000 people, mainly from Darfur, have already sought refuge.
In the week she recently spent there, around 20,000 people had arrived from the neighbouring country, Easter told dpa.
Of the malnourished children being treated in the organization's clinics, more than half are in the "red zone," that is acutely malnourished, she said.
There is also an increasing shortage of food in the region and prices are rising rapidly, according to Easter.
11°C