Around 300 children have been rescued from an orphanage in Sudan – after at least 71 died.
The infants, toddlers and older children had been trapped at Al-Mayqoma orphanage in the country’s capital, Khartoum, due to the ongoing conflict in Sudan that began on 15 April.
Their rescue follows an online campaign led by local activists and international charities, which escalated after the death of 26 children at the orphanage in late May.
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Thousands of people have fled Sudan’s West Darfur state into eastern Chad seeking safety from regional violence fuelled by the war between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
At least 71 children died at the facility from illness and hunger as food and supplies dwindled, local charity Hadhreen said.
Among the dead were babies as young as three months.
Death certificates listed circulatory collapse as a cause of death but also mentioned other contributing factors such as fever, dehydration, malnutrition and failure to thrive.
People board a bus to leave Khartoum, Sudan. Pic: AP
The children have now been transported to a safer location within the African nation, said a spokesperson for UN’s children agency UNICEF.
The Sudanese ministries of social development and health have taken charge of the children, while UNICEF has provided humanitarian support including medical care, food, educational activities and play.
The children have also received medical checks after the journey to their new location
The International Committee of The Red Cross, which assisted with the evacuation, said the children, aged between one month and 15 years, were relocated after securing a safe corridor to Madani, the capital of Jazira province, about 85 miles southeast of Khartoum.
Seventy carers have been relocated with them.
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“The safe movement of these incredibly vulnerable children to a place of safety offers a ray of light in the midst of the ongoing conflict in Sudan,” Mandeep O’Brien, a UNICEF representative in Sudan, said.
However, “many millions of children remain at risk across Sudan,” he said.
The conflict is between rival factions of the military government of Sudan, the Sudan army – headed by General Abdel Fattah al Burhan – and the paramilitary group RSF, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
The conflict has inflicted a heavy toll on civilians, with children among the most vulnerable.
Over 860 civilians, including at least 190 children, have been killed and thousands of others wounded since 15 April, according to Sudan’s Doctors’ Syndicate, which tracks civilian casualties.
The real tally is suspected to be much higher.
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The conflict has forced more than 1.9 million people to flee their homes, while others have remained trapped.
The work of humanitarian groups across the country has also been affected.
There have been reports of looting and sexual violence, including the rape of women and girls in Khartoum and the western Darfur region, which have seen some of the worst fighting.
Almost all reported cases of sexual attacks were blamed on the RSF, which have not responded to requests for comment.
