Stories from the Nuba Mountains: Bearing Witness in Sudan
Sudan’s Nuba Mountains, bordering South Sudan, have become a place of refuge for more than 700,000 people from all over Sudan who have fled there since war broke out in April 2023.
Refugees International visited the Nuba Mountains in June 2024 to speak with people about their experiences amid the war in Sudan and to meet with the local humanitarian groups working to assist them.
These are their stories.
Amira, a 36-year-old mother, fled Khartoum for the Nuba mountains. “There is no war here,” she said. She had to leave some of her children with her husband and hopes that they will be able to join her.
Hani, aged 33, lost a daughter and a son as well as her leg in a bombing. She does not intend to return home. “We’ll build a new Khartoum here,” she says, “back there needs to be rebuilt anyway.” She appealed for trauma assistance and aid for disabled people who have been forced to flee.
Izadin had just arrived in an IDP camp the week before Refugees International met him in June 2024. He described leaving Khartoum and continuing by vehicle, hitchhiking, and on foot because, “There’s no safe place to stay.” He teared up as he recalled how many people died along the way. He said they survived on dried bread until it ran out, and then asked for whatever food they could get.
He now lives in a makeshift shelter without a tarp as the rainy season sets in. His main appeal was for help for the families still left back in Khartoum and other conflict-affected areas to come to the relative safety of the Nuba Mountains.
Hamdul, a 25-year-old, arrived with his 49-year-old father from Kosti. He saw SAF soldiers who were going from house to house, looting, and shooting people indiscriminately. They killed his younger brother in front of him. He said he also saw women raped.
His father has been losing weight in recent weeks and looked frail. Hamdul said it is a result of their journey fleeing for safety. Despite facing limited food and shelter, he says, “Here, at least, I can sleep and feel secure.”
Sudan’s IDPs are also fleeing rising hunger.
Experts estimate that more than half of Sudan’s population faces crisis levels of food insecurity, including some 750,000 people facing famine levels. Many people told Refugees International that they are surviving only on plants from trees. One man showed the team an example of a leaf that some people gather nearby to eat.
Ursalima, age 55, arrived in an IDP camp just a few days before speaking with Refugees International. She and her husband fled when the RSF came to their community. They described people fleeing in every direction. It took them two months to reach the Nuba mountains.
“The situation is bad,” they said, “there is no food and we are hungry.” Now, in the camp, they survive by collecting plants to eat.
Asha, a 32-year-old mother, fled the town of Kadugli for the Nuba Mountains in June 2023. She was pregnant and survived eating leaves along the way. She held her now 9-month-old son, saying, “Even now we’re just eating leaves from trees.”
