"Many childern arrive in Tawila without their families," NP's Mahmoud Shabeeb on Sudan for Al Arabiya

Mahmoud Shabeeb, Global Media Advisor

Transcript:

• With us from Toronto is Mahmoud Shabeeb, the Global Media Advisor at the organization Nonviolent Peaceforce. Welcome! How is your organization following the verified reports coming from El Fasher about mass killings and acts of violence, according to what survivors describe as the horror of this humanitarian crisis? What information has reached your organization regarding what is happening in El Fasher?

What you showed just moments ago reflects one of the many tragic aspects of this major humanitarian disaster unfolding in El Fasher We are hearing from survivors who have managed to reach Tawila — some of them have completely lost contact with their family members. Among them even survivors who work wtih Nonviolent Peaceforce who are originally from El Fasher.

Many of the children arriving at our reception centre in Tawila come without their families. Some survivors tell us they saw body parts and remains along the way. Some of them were themselves subjected to gunfire, beatings, and various forms of torture — not to mention the severe psychological pressure and dire humanitarian condition in which they arrive.

• Mr. Mahmoud, your organization documents daily the number of displaced people arriving at the Tawila camp. Do you have any statistics on those affected — the survivors, the displaced arriving at the camp, or the victims still inside Al-Fashir?

In fact, documenting the numbers accurately or even roughly is an impossible task at the moment, because, as you know, communication has been completely cut off. There are no means of contact between El Fasher and other areas. Many of those fleeing the city take different routes, and we do not know who among them reaches safety and who perishes along the way or is subjected to abduction or torture.

There are many routes, but unfortunately, most of them are unsafe. What I can tell you is that in the first few days of this week, the number of arrivals in Tawila was far greater than what the town could accommodate. However, what my colleagues informed me of today is that between yesterday and today, the number of new arrivals has noticeably decreased.

This indicates — since we know that the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe has certainly not improved — that the only possible explanation is that people have been unable to flee in the same numbers over the past two days due to increased pressure, violence, or possibly tighter control over their movement by different groups.

• Thank you very much from Toronto, Mahmoud Shabeeb, Global Media Advisor at the organization Nonviolent Peaceforce.