Displaced El-Fasher Doctors Treat Survivors in Makeshift Al-Dabbah Clinics

Displaced medical staff who fled El-Fasher have set up improvised clinics in the army-held Al-Dabbah camp to care for fellow survivors after the city fell to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Despite having narrowly escaped the violence themselves, doctors, nurses and pharmacists are working around the clock with scarce supplies and little mental respite.

Life in a makeshift clinic

Hundreds of families live in nylon tents or on plastic mats in the sandy camp, which is supported by a Sudanese private donor. In a cluster of blue canvas shelters, roughly 60 health workers have created a rudimentary clinic with a simple pharmacy, a basic laboratory and tents used as short-stay wards. Plastic chairs double as examination tables, and ambulances borrowed from nearby Al-Dabbah serve as mobile clinics.

"We're not in good shape," said Ikhlas Abdallah, a general practitioner who escaped El-Fasher. "But we have to be okay to provide care to those who need it."

Daily chores are shared: men haul water for communal kitchens and improvised latrines, while women cook large pots of the Sudanese staple assida to feed displaced families free of charge. The health teams see dozens of cases each day — respiratory infections, diarrhoeal illnesses, skin conditions and eye infections — illnesses that spread quickly in crowded settings with limited clean water.

Danger, secrecy and shortages

Staff describe treating the wounded in hiding while fleeing. Abdallah said she reached Al-Dabbah "only because they (the RSF) did not know we were doctors," adding that being identified as medical personnel could carry the risk of "death, captivity or ransom." During their escape she and colleagues treated people often without proper supplies; if discovered, those who had received care were at risk of further abuse.

"We are doing everything we can, but resources are scarce," said Ahmed al-Tegani, a volunteer doctor with the International Organization for Migration. Some patients require specialised care that cannot be provided in the camp.

Attacks on health services and human toll

The World Health Organization has documented 285 attacks on health care since the conflict began, reporting at least 1,204 health workers and patients killed and more than 400 wounded. Local medics say the last functioning maternity hospital in El-Fasher suffered repeated strikes during the siege; a devastating attack days after the city fell reportedly killed hundreds of patients and staff.

Abdallah recalls a night in October when a drone hit the hospital. "When we rushed there, there was no one left to save. Bodies were unrecognisable. It didn't feel real — horror like in the movies," she said.

The city remains largely cut off from communications, with the RSF controlling access to certain satellite services. The journey from El-Fasher to Al-Dabbah was perilous: fleeing residents reported checkpoints, arbitrary killings, widespread looting and sexual violence. "More people died on the road than inside the city itself," Abdallah said.

Wider crisis

Sudan's conflict has killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly 12 million people, fueling the world's largest displacement and hunger crises. On a visit to displacement camps, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher warned that the country faces enormous needs and stressed the urgency of strengthening Sudan's health system to meet an escalating humanitarian emergency.