Sudan conflict : Unaccompanied children have spent incredibly difficult moments- ICRC
Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Thursday said it helped evacuate hundreds of children from Khartoum to safety area, over 200 km south of Khartoum, the epicenter of the current fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF)and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
“Knowing these children are safe is an enormous relief,” Jean-Christophe Sandoz, the head of the ICRC delegation in Sudan, was quoted by the press release as saying.
The release said a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) facilitated the evacuation of the Maigoma Orphanage on Wednesday.
The children, aged between one month and 15 years, were taken to Wad Madani, about 200 kilometers from Khartoum.
According to the release, the total number of children and their caretakers now settled in Madani 350 persons including 280 children and 70 caretakers.
The released said the children have “spent incredibly difficult moments in an area where the conflict has been raging for the past six weeks without access to proper healthcare, an especially hard situation for children with special needs.”
It added that some of the evacuated children suffer from mental health conditions that could be exacerbated by the stressful conflict environment they were living in.
The ICRC facilitated the evacuation following the request from the Ministry of Social Development, and in close coordination with the Ministry of Health.
As a neutral intermediary, it obtained security guarantees from the parties to the conflict to ensure safe passage for the children and the orphanage staff.
Upon arrival in Wad Madani, the children were transferred to the custody of the Ministry’s personnel.
The ICRC release said since fighting broke out in Sudan on 15 April, it had been closely cooperating with the Sudanese Red Crescent Society to deliver surgical supplies to hospitals, help collect and identify mortal remains, and improve access to clean water.
It added that the two organizations had also supported families who lost contact with their loved ones.
In addition, the ICRC has maintained dialogue with all the parties to facilitate medical evacuations of wounded people and remind them of their obligations under the norms of international humanitarian law.
-0- PANA MO/RA 8June2023
