Sudan: MSF forced to suspend work at two hospitals due to security incidents and obstructions – three people killed in a recent airstrike

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been forced to suspend work at Babiker Nahar Paediatric Hospital, North Darfur state and Madani Teaching Hospital, Al Jazirah state, in Sudan after a series of security incidents and obstructions. One of these incidents even claimed the lives of two children and at least one caretaker at the paediatric hospital on 11 May. MSF is making an urgent call to all warring parties to protect civilians, ensure the protection of health structures and grant the necessary travel permits for our staff and supplies, as they are obligated to do under International Humanitarian Law, and the Jeddah declaration – signed exactly one year ago on the day that the paediatric hospital was damaged and the children and caregiver were killed.  

In the evening of 11 May in North Darfur state, an airstrike carried out by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) landed 50 metres from the MSF-supported Babiker Nahar Paediatric Hospital in El Fasher, leading to the collapse of the roof above the intensive care unit (ICU), and the death of two children who remained receiving treatment there, as well as the death of at least one caregiver. This hospital was one of the few specialising in treating sick children that had remained operational since the start of the war. It received referrals from across the Darfur region because so many others had been forced to close. Currently, this hospital is also closed due to the collateral damage of the airstrike. 
The heavy fighting between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and SAF/Joint Forces the broke out on the day before caused 290 wounded people to arrive at the MSF-supported South Hospital in El Fasher as of 13 May, which 41 of them passed away.

While in Wad Madani, the capital of Al Jazirah state, the MSF-supported Madani Teaching Hospital has suffered more than three months of relentless challenges trying to provide care at the hospital. Because of these formidable obstructions, MSF took the extremely difficult decision to suspend work and withdraw staff from the only functional hospital for the hundreds of thousands of people in dire need of medical assistance in the state.

Now, two additional health facilities in the conflict-ridden country have been put out of action. “115 children were receiving treatment in Babiker Nahar Paediatric Hospital – now no one is. Already, there was far too little health care available in Sudan due to the conflict,”── Michel-Olivier Lacharité, head of MSF’s emergency operations

“The health system and basic services in Al Jazirah state have collapsed as a consequence of the fighting and the systematic blockade on supplies and personnel entering the area,” says Mari Carmen Viñoles, operations manager for MSF in Sudan regarding the situation nearer to Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. “MSF was the only international NGO providing some support in Wad Madani. Our departure leaves a deep void for people struggling to access healthcare and living in a very insecure environment without transportation to move around.”

On 13 January, MSF was able to send a team back to Wad Madani, where we evacuated all of our staff in the area in last December due to heavy fighting. Since then, we have been supporting different departments, providing training and salary incentives to 240 Ministry of Health (MoH) staff, as well as food for patients of the teaching hospital. Till the end of April, there were 2,981 admissions from the influx of patients into the emergency room, among other services. 

MSF has now suspended all support to the teaching hospital, and relocated our staff to safer areas of Sudan. Over the last three months, our team and the supported MoH staff have faced repeated security incidents that have been either carried out or tolerated by the RSF, including looting of the hospital, stolen vehicles, and staff being retained, among multiple other incidents and pressures. Since January, Sudanese authorities have persistently denied travel permits to bring new staff and medical and logistic supplies into the city. 

MSF is willing to return to support the Madani Teaching Hospital to support people in Al Jazirah if the warring parties commit to respecting our medical work and ensure safe and uninterrupted access to the area. 

MSF calls on the RSF to stop violating medical facilities and guarantee the safety of MoH and MSF personnel. “We remind the warring parties with the utmost gravity that hospitals and health facilities must not be targeted, or become collateral damage in a conflict. We also urge them to ensure that they protect civilians – something they completely failed to do last weekend. As well as the two children and the care giver, 41 people wounded in the fighting who arrived at South Hospital on Friday were in a terminal condition and it was not possible to save their lives,” added Michel-Olivier Lacharité. MSF also calls on the Government of Sudan-led military and civilian authorities to grant the necessary travel permits for our staff and supplies. 

MSF currently works in and supports more than 30 health facilities in nine states in Sudan: Khartoum, White and Blue Nile, Al Gedaref, West Darfur, North, South and Central Darfur, and Red Sea. We run programs in both SAF- and RSF-controlled areas. Our teams provide trauma care, maternal and pediatric care, and treat malnutrition alongside other healthcare services. MSF teams are also supporting Sudanese refugees and returnees in South Sudan and eastern Chad.