Sudan War Displaces Millions as Aisha Adam Flees Khartoum for Port Sudan

Gunfire scattered Aisha Adam from her home in Khartoum’s al-Kalakla neighborhood just days after the war erupted on April 15, 2023. The conflict pits the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). She fled to Omdurman, but violence chased her there too. By May 2023, Adam sought refuge in Port Sudan, on the Red Sea coast. She now shelters with her orphaned grandson and nephew in a camp for internally displaced people.

Her escape was chaotic. "Amid the clashes, I left with my grandson for the bus station, intending to travel to Wad Madani in Gezira state, south of Khartoum," Adam told Al Jazeera. "But I found a bus heading to Port Sudan and boarded it, even though all I knew about the city was that it was safe."

The toll is staggering. Aid workers estimate the fighting has killed as many as 200,000 people. Thirteen million others have been displaced. Famine has already gripped parts of the country.

Adam initially stayed at a central shelter in Port Sudan. In June, officials relocated her to a displacement center on the city’s outskirts. Housing allocation depended on household size. She received a tent for herself and the two children under her care. The structure shared a boundary with two other families.

Assistance has dried up. "At the first shelter, I received some assistance from organisations, other agencies and even ordinary people," she noted. "But things are different here. The aid we receive has decreased significantly, so I had to try to find work to avoid starving to death."

This personal struggle mirrors a national crisis. On October 27, the United States Department of State issued a joint statement warning of deteriorating food availability. "Sudan is experiencing an alarming deterioration in its food security," the statement read. "The risk of famine in the coming months, as warned by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, needs urgent action."

Fatima, another displaced resident, feels the report’s weight daily. Humanitarian aid over the last six months has been sparse. She recalls receiving help only three times. One instance brought 550,000 Sudanese pounds ($59.13) in cash. Another provided 12kg of flour. The final distribution offered personal hygiene supplies for women.

"I have no choice but to work," she said. "There is no one I can rely on. My two sons are missing, and I do not know where they are, while my other son died before the war began."

Adam rises early each morning to work at a nearby market. She prepares and sells zalabia, a traditional Sudanese fried pastry, alongside tea and coffee. Some days yield profit. Others result in loss.

"I do not know how to calculate my profit," she explained to Al Jazeera. "But as soon as I finish selling the zalabia, I go to buy the ingredients … for the next day: 3kg of flour for 21,000 pounds ($2.25), 2 litres of oil for 22,000 pounds ($2.36) and three bags of charcoal for 9,000 pounds ($0.97)."

The remaining funds often fail to cover a single meal for herself and the two children. A kilogramme of lentils, one of the cheapest options available, costs 16,000 pounds ($1.72).

Meat has vanished from her shopping list. Her plate now holds little more than lentils and rice. For the past five days, aid organizations have stepped in with water, a lifeline she did not have before. Previously, she spent 1,500 pounds ($0.16) to buy 18 liters. Sometimes the cash was simply not there. She had to borrow it.

Adam says keeping her small business alive is her top priority. It pays for food and, just as importantly, helps her manage the agony of not knowing what happened to her two missing sons.

“The important thing is that we eat, even if it is only lentils and water, with nothing else. But my greatest fear is that we will fall ill, because we have no money for treatment,” she said.

Her personal struggle mirrors a national emergency. On October 22, 2026, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced that funding shortages forced it to slash monthly food assistance for displaced people. About 900,000 individuals lost this support. Across Sudan, 19.5 million people face acute hunger. Five million of them are at emergency levels of food shortage. The WFP warns that famine risks persist in specific hotspots, particularly Greater Darfur and Greater Kordofan.

Esraa Mohammed, supervisor of the al-Suraiha 8 IDP camp in al-Obeid, reports that displaced families are facing severe shortages of humanitarian assistance. They lack even the most basic necessities.

“We have 450 registered displaced people in the camp, in addition to 40 newly arrived people who have not yet been added to the official records,” she told Al Jazeera. “Most arrive wearing torn clothes after their journeys, with nothing to protect them from the sun or rain, and without even a single meal.”

Mohammed notes that some organizations do provide aid. This includes about 400ml of cooking oil per person and 250gm of peas per person. Another group distributes lentils, flour, oil, and salt.

But these supplies are insufficient to sustain her family for a month. She and other displaced Sudanese must hunt for casual work to make ends meet. Sometimes they find it. Other times, they go to bed hungry.

“There are 100 children in the camp, 30 of whom are suffering from severe acute malnutrition. They also urgently need clothes to protect them from harsh weather conditions and cover their small bodies,” she said.

Mohammed added that some displaced people arriving from South Kordofan reported being forced to eat tree leaves while fleeing. They feared being killed by the RSF, following reports of civilians being murdered, detained, or raped by fighters from the group.

Ahmed Ismail, an expert on the United Nations and NGOs, describes the humanitarian situation in Sudan as extremely serious. The basic needs of the population far exceed the support being provided.

“Sudan is facing a complex crisis involving famine, displacement, the collapse of health services, the destruction of livelihoods and serious violations against civilians,” he told Al Jazeera.

Humanitarian monitoring has indicated an increase in civilian deaths. These include casualties linked to difficulties accessing food, healthcare, and shelter, as well as victims of attacks and violations, including drone strikes.

“When assistance declines, the most vulnerable families are deprived of food and medicine, increasing the risk of death among children, women and older people, particularly in conflict and displacement areas,” Ismail said.

Continued reductions in aid, alongside escalating violations and restrictions on humanitarian access, could turn the crisis into an even wider catastrophe, he warned.

“Denying the severity of conditions in some areas did not change the reality of the suffering experienced by civilians,” he said.