Donate 
[Paris, April 14, 2025] Between April 11 and 13, the Zamzam refugee camp – one of the largest in the Darfur region of western Sudan – was the target of a major offensive by paramilitary group, killing several hundred people. As a result, hundreds of thousands of civilians fled along dangerous roads and through deadly bushes. These attacks occurred just days before April 15, which marks the two-year anniversary of the war.
“People are dying of thirst and exhaustion in the bush between Zamzam camp and the town of Tawila, says Justine Muzik Piquemal, regional director in charge of Sudan at SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL. The conflict in Sudan shows the worst of war, in shocking silence”. Since Friday, April 11, the Zamzam displacement camp, home to more than 500,000 people and located 20 kilometers south of the city of El-Fasher, has suffered a series of attacks leaving several hundred civilians dead and forcing hundreds of thousands of families to flee in fear and desperation.
Among the civilians killed, nine aid workers from a medical clinic still operating in El-Fasher were confirmed dead – a loss that SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL has condemned with deep concern. “Our colleagues from Relief International were murdered one after the other in the hospital. It’s terrible,” says our field coordinator Renaud Douci. “There’s no one left in Zamzam camp, he gasps. Everyone fled within 48 hours to El-Fasher and Tawila, where NGOs are doing their best to coordinate and respond to the massive humanitarian needs. Between 10,000 and 20,000 people are arriving here every day – exhausted and desperate.”
Under siege for nearly two years, Zamzam camp had, until recently, served as a refuge for civilians subjected to relentless abuse – including murder, rape, extortion, and the forced recruitment of men and young boys. In September 2024, SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL raised the alarm over a famine devastating the region – an emergency that was significantly increasing the risk of disease outbreaks, including measles and cholera. This already dramatic situation is only getting worse today. “The displaced people we meet have lost everything; they are shocked and very dehydrated. One of the big challenges for us is going to be the rapid mobilization of water trucking, explains Justine Muzik Piquemal. First of all, to quench thirst, but also to fight epidemics: in El-Fasher as in Tawila, there is an urgent need for swift action.”
Present in Sudan since 2020, SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL was the first international humanitarian NGO to successfully return to the west of the country after the outbreak of civil war on April 15, 2023. With more than 30 million people in need (more than half the population) and 13 million displaced, Sudan is considered the world’s largest humanitarian crisis*.
*Sudan faces unprecedented hunger and displacement as war enters third year | UN News
Spokespersons available in English:
- Caroline Bouvard, Country Director in Sudan, based in Gedaref
- Renaud Douci, Field Coordinator in Sudan, based in Tawilah
- Justine Muzik Piquemal, Regional Director in charge of Sudan, based in France
Press contact:
Claire MORAND / 07 85 42 56 99
cmorand@solidarites.org or presse@solidarites.org
Website: solidarites.org/en/
X : @Solidarites_Int – Instagram : @solidaritesinternational