Sudan and Chad: Surviving tomorrow, the communities displaced by conflict
Award-winning photographer Moises Saman traveled to West Darfur and eastern Chad to uplift the voices of people caught in violence and displacement.
Sudan is a land of vast horizons, where the dunes of the Sahara meet the fertile banks of the Nile and the mountains of Darfur. The country’s beauty lies not only in its land, but in its people: diverse, proud, and bound by traditions and strength.
Yet beneath this beauty runs a history marked by conflict. For decades, communities have been fractured by relentless civil wars, until the beginning of the ongoing war in April 2023, between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
To shed light on a crisis unfolding far from the cameras and largely absent from international media attention, the award-winning Magnum photographer Moises Saman travelled to West Darfur and Eastern Chad with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Renowned for his ability to document war zones, Saman blends traditional conflict photography with a deeply personal perspective, giving voice to those caught in violence and displacement.
SEE THE FULL PHOTO STORY HERE
SEE THE FULL PHOTO STORY HERE
“As soon as you cross the border and enter Sudan, you immediately feel that you have reached a militarized context.”
Moises Saman, Magnum photographer
Seeking safety in Chad
In June 2023, ethnic cleansing in West Darfur pushed hundreds of thousands of people previously trapped in the city of El Geneina across the border into eastern Chad. The sudden influx put enormous pressure on already stretched resources, with urgent needs for healthcare, shelter, food, water and sanitation.
“When I arrived in Ouaddaï province, I was surprised by the number of people living in these makeshift refugee camps so close to the border,” says Saman. “Especially in Adré – the camp is literally along the border and just a kilometre away are the areas controlled by the RSF, the forces that these people have fled from.”
To respond to the dramatically increased needs, MSF opened a clinic and built latrines and showers in Adré transit camp. The teams also set up a field hospital in Aboutengue[CO1] camp and expanded their provision of pediatric and women’s health services, emergency medicine, mental health support, treatment for survivors of sexual violence and nutritional care. These efforts continue to this day, as teams work to meet the ongoing needs of people seeking safety.
Crossing the border into Darfur
After spending several days in Chad, Saman continued his journey to West Darfur.
“As soon as you cross the border and enter Sudan, you immediately feel that you have reached a militarized context,” says Saman. “You cross this no man’s land and suddenly you’re in an RSF-controlled territory with several checkpoints, young men with guns and military vehicles. There were not so many families, it was mostly people on donkey carts carrying boxes of goods, mostly petrol.”
A region at heart of the conflict
Amid significant challenges, MSF staff continued to provide essential care to patients in the first week of the conflict. However, after the situation deteriorated significantly in El Geneina, doctors fled their homes for fear of being harmed. The city has been the victim of widespread looting, with homes, shops, several NGO and Ministry of Health (MoH) facilities targeted, among others.
MSF supports El Geneina teaching hospital, one of the few hospitals providing free medical care for people in the city and surrounding areas. Teams provide maternal and child healthcare, mental health support and run a therapeutic feeding centre. “I remember meeting a little boy, Khalil, and his grandmother inside El Geneina teaching hospital,” says Saman. “Khalil was just three years old and suffering from severe malnutrition. He had already lost both his parents, and his grandmother was his only caretaker. It was truly moving to witness the tenderness with which she cared and looked after him.”
A crisis that needs the world’s attention
“I feel that what’s happening in Sudan needs the world’s attention. There’s so much talk about other conflicts and humanitarian crises happening right now and this one sometimes gets overshadowed. But there are so many civilians suffering and I just wish more people were paying attention. I think that the work that MSF is doing is great and I hope that my work contributes to keeping the focus on this conflict thought my pictures.”
