10 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced on Wednesday that it has been forced to evacuate its staff from the Turkish Hospital in Khartoum, in the capital of Sudan, as a result of fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia.
“The situation at the Turkish Hospital, located in an RSF-controlled area, has become unsustainable. Over the past 12 months, there have been multiple violent incidents inside and outside the facility and the lives of our staff have been repeatedly threatened,” said Claire Nicolet, head of emergencies in Sudan.
Nicolet said that on June 17 and 18, dozens of injured people were admitted to the hospital. “Our team was woken up aggressively while Kalashnikovs were being fired into their rooms. This type of violence against our staff is unacceptable,” she added.
The NGO also said that two armed men arrested one of its workers inside the hospital in early June, took him to an unknown location and severely beat him.
MSF has said that the decision was “well thought out” because for almost 14 months they have been able to provide treatment continuously despite numerous, “often deliberate” obstructions from the warring parties.
In total, more than 10,600 patients have been treated in the Turkish Hospital’s emergency services, which represents an average of 55 to 60 patients per day. In addition, 1,338 babies have been born either by normal delivery or by Caesarean section.
Nicolet stressed that the team is “physically and mentally exhausted” because, due to the blockade imposed by the Sudanese authorities, they have been working tirelessly for months and there have been no staff replacements.
MSF, which was forced to suspend its activities in Uad Madani, the capital of Gezira state south of Khartoum, last May, has urged the parties to the conflict “to protect the civilian population and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and other health facilities.”
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Monday estimated the number of displaced people at 328,000, a figure that covers the period between April 1 — when the escalation of violence in the area intensified — and June 30.
The war between the army and the RSF broke out in April 2023 due to strong disagreements over the process of integrating the paramilitary group – now declared a rebel – into the Armed Forces, a situation that derailed the open transition following the overthrow of the Omar Hassan al Bashir regime in 2019.
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