Heavy rains swamp Sudan camps

by Hilary Andersson
BBC correspondent in Darfur

Heavy rains and sewage problems could bring an outbreak of cholera

I am standing in the middle of Mornay camp in west Darfur, and I am surrounded by hundreds of children and adults, all crammed into tiny shacks in this camp of about 80,000 people.

It is a camp that is increasing in size, as are many of the camps.

And in some parts of Darfur the fighting has been going on, and that of course means that people are still flooding into some of the camps.

Right now I can see grey skies above me.

The rains are about to happen; the heavens are about to open.

That is very bad news for the people here, not only because it means that aid cannot necessarily get through to the camps, because the roads here are in a very poor state, but also because the refugees' huts have only got flimsy pieces of tarpaulin, if they are lucky, to shelter them from the rain.

Many people here spend the entire night sitting upright, unable to lie down in their makeshift shelters because of the torrential rains that have turned the ground into an enormous pool of water.

And of course that helps breed disease. The sewage problem is absolutely appalling.

Food shortage

And so what you have is starvation and disease all rolled into one and an absolutely devastating spectacle.

Some foreign aid agencies here are trying to improve the situation but the clean water that they are able to provide is not enough for the huge numbers in need of it.

On top of that, the World Food Programme at the moment only has half the food it needs to feed the camp.

Sudan's government, under pressure from the outside world, has recently lifted many restrictions that were frustrating efforts to get aid into Darfur but aid agencies now face difficulties negotiating roads clogged by rains.

In Mornay alone, scores are dying of disease and malnutrition every week. New graves are being dug daily.

International aid agencies have warned that many thousands could die in the months ahead.

One of their greatest fears now is that there will be outbreaks of cholera.