TRANSCRIPT
Heavy shelling and gunfire ring out as paramilitary forces raid a famine-stricken refugee camp in Sudan's western Darfur region.
The Zamzam internally displaced persons camp, home to more than 500,000 refugees, has suffered heavily throughout two years of war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces.
The RSF is celebrating taking control of the camp after two days of fighting, destroying homes, markets and healthcare facilities.
Since Friday, the militants have launched ground and aerial assaults on North Darfur's besieged capital of El-Fasher and the nearby Zamzam and Abu Shouk displacement camps.
The United Nations says more than 100 people were feared dead in the RSF attacks with an army-aligned faction putting the toll at more than four times that.
Mohamed Elday, a Sudanese-Australian man living in western Sydney, says more than 13 of his family members have been killed in the violence.
[["One of my second cousins recently passed away from the ethnic killings. She was passed away at just 12 years old. Her name was Maira. And I also have another cousin from my dad's side who also passed away and multiple uncles. There's way too many people to list. There's over 13 of them.”
The death and destruction has been made worse by a communications blackout from Zamzam camp which has hidden the full extent of the damage.
"Right now there's no reception whatsoever. It's extremely difficult, like we're all living in misery. We never know when the next occasion's going to happen, the next event. We don't know if our family members are going to pass away or live to see another day. We completely don't know.”
Relief International - the last providers of health and humanitarian services to Zamzam camp - says nine of their medical staff were killed by the RSF.
SBS was provided with a video which appears to show a volunteer nurse pointing to the wrapped bodies of the humanitarian workers.
"I'm sorry to share this, but I swear to God, today is the worst day of our life. These are all doctors, they were just killed. This is Abuasha, and this is Mohamed, that’s Cola, and that is Adam Babkir. I ask God to rest them in peace and for a quick recovery for the injured people.”
The RSF repeatedly denies attacking civilians, however Mukesh Kapila - former head of the UN in Sudan - told the BBC that he had no doubt about their involvement.
[["There are reports from aid workers on the ground, the few who are working there, there are statements from the actual people affected that are who is themselves. And this is part of a pattern of violence and sexualised violence committed by the RSF that has been going on for some time. So I think there is absolutely no doubt that it's the RSF, the descendants of the original Janjaweed who started these atrocities 20 years ago. They're back in full form in the same places in Darfur.”
The RSF has been accused of genocide by the United States and Sudan has taken the United Arab Emirates to the International Court of Justice for allegedly supporting the militants committing genocidal acts.
Sydney man Mohamed Elday is from the Zaghawa tribe, one of the three ethnic groups historically targeted by the RSF and Arab militant groups.
He says he has no doubt that the Darfur Genocide of the early 2000s is repeating again.
"For my own family, we feel like we are racially targeted and discriminated against. Most definitely it's a genocide. It's not just an attack on my people but Darfur as a whole. Fur, Masalit, Zaghawa - all of us. It's an attack on all.”
Shayna Lewis, a Sudan specialist and senior advisor at US-based NGO, Preventing and Ending Mass Atrocities, told DW News the move is part of the RSF's attempt at securing full control of the Darfur region.
"This is an IDP camp. It is protected under international humanitarian law, and despite the words of the RSF, there is no military objective in attacking civilians in this camp. They're attacking the camp because the RSF were pushed out of the centre and the east of the country by the Sudanese Armed Forces in February and March of this year. And now the RSF are attempting to shore up their political negotiating position by controlling all five of the states in Darfur. Currently they're in possession of four out of five states, but this is their ultimate gambit to control five out of five.”
But these power plays have left Darfur devastated and refugees in Zamzam camp powerless to defend against the paramilitary forces.
Mohamed says the psychological effects on him and his family in Australia are undeniable but he wants to do his best to support his family and spread the word so the Australian government can help end the killing.
"Alhamdulillah I'm a bit better than my mum. She's holding up the worst unfortunately. She can't even eat, it's pretty bad. If I stay sad nothing's going to change so I've gotta keep striving I guess and do the best for my family. I can't just lie in bed and cry all day. What's that going to do? What's that going to change?”
