Sudan, anxiety, fear, aggression, anguish: children fleeing the war arrive at the border with stress symptoms

ROME – Children fleeing violence in Sudan are arriving in South Sudan and Egypt and are showing heavy signs of stress: some get angry, others become aggressive, delegates from Save the Children. Since 15 April, the day the fighting began, more than 700,000 people have fled their homes to flee violence in Sudan, a country which was already facing a serious humanitarian crisis due to conflicts, natural disasters, epidemics and economic degradation. A third of the population already needed assistance. In the last month, according to the United Nations, more than 150,000 people have entered Egypt, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Chad, with reports of long waits at crossings, shortages of food, water and sanitation. At least 60,000 people have fled to Egypt from Sudan and most of the families have reached Wadi Karkar, a bus station near Aswan in southern Egypt, where Save the Children supports refugees before they are transferred to other cities in the country.

Water, food and psychological support. The teams of Save the Children they are providing psychological support as well as essential supplies to families arriving at border crossings in South Sudan and Egypt, some of whom have spent up to 15 days traveling to seek safety. In Renk, on the north-eastern border between South Sudan and Sudan, the organization is also facilitating family reunification, especially between minors and their parents.

The state of mind of children. They are very stressed – says Micah Yakani, coordinator of Save the Children in Sudan – and this can be seen in unusual attitudes: they argue with each other, some are closed in on themselves and don’t want to talk to anyone. Adolescents also display violent behavior such as anger, despair, some speak aggressively. The hot meals offered in the transit centers are not enough for everyone and many families are left without food. Without considering that many children and their parents, in the absence of reopening, spend many hours under the scorching sun and some already show signs of burns.

The story. Laila Toema, consultant to the organization for mental health problems, says that families spend up to two, three hours at the bus stop: a time during which the staff of Save the Children try to engage children with games and support parents with stress management programs. In the first week of the exodus, the NGO supported 127 children and people who look after them. Fleeing families often have collected only a few possessions before leaving their homes, so they need diapers, food, water. The wait can last a few hours, it is often very hot and most of the children are tired. Some of them show signs of distress and anxiety. One of the mothers, for example, did not allow her son to get off the bus to play with the other children: she feared for her safety. Parents find it hard to consider themselves displaced.

The work of NGOs. Together with Red Cross Egyptian, Save the Children it distributed food parcels to 10,000 people at the border, 1,000 first aid kits and 4,000 hygiene kits. Ahmed Adel, who works in the field of psychosocial support with Save the Children in Egypt, he says children are terrified. Many associate the general noises with the shootings and explosions that occurred near them when they were in Sudan. Some have lost friends, others a few family members. The result is that everyone suffers from symptoms of severe stress.