Conflicts Amid Drinking Water Crisis In Sudan

The Chief of Staff of the Sudan Armed Forces sent a convoy of water tankers to Red Sea State on the 16th of April in response to an emerging water crisis in the region.  

In the city of Kassala, in the south of the state, most neighbourhoods have been experiencing a complete lack of water.  In a violent incident in Kassala at the end of March, two people were killed and seven others were wounded in a conflict over a water project. Authorities imposed a security cordon around the affected area and arrested eight alleged perpetrators. On the 6th of April, an accord was signed between the Beni Amer, Habab, and Sibarat tribes to put an end to the conflict.

Meanwhile, in Port Sudan, similar reports were received of neighbourhoods which were running out of water. In Kalma and Zamzam camps for internally displaced peoples in Darfur, local water shortages have been reported, as a well as a lack of tankered water.    

ReliefWeb’s Displacement Tracking Matrix conducted an assessment in Red Sea State in March. It reports that Red Sea State has a diversity of ethnic groups, and clashes over access to natural resources have been common over the past decades.  In recent years, inter-communal clashes have been common, driving internal displacement. The March assessment reported 20,000 internally displaced persons from 4,000 households, some of whom are settled in refugee maps and others who have migrated to urban areas.

The top priority needs reported by communities were access to water, followed by health care and education.