UN agencies report worsening conditions in North Darfur and Kordofan, with independent human rights experts warning that the collapse of protections after the city’s fall has increased risks for women and children.
Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized control of El Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state, on October 26 after an 18-month siege depriving residents of food, medicine, and essential supplies. It was the last major government stronghold in Darfur.
According to the United Nations World Food Program (PAM), families displaced by the fighting are now spread across five sites around El Fasher, notably Tawila, while others reached distant areas like Dabbah in Northern State and Khartoum.
Currently, 1,485 tonnes of food and nutrition products, enough for about 130,000 people, are being transported to Tawila via the Dabbah crossing, supplementing ongoing aid to those displaced earlier this year.
Resumption of fighting in Kordofan
Meanwhile, the resumption of fighting in Kordofan has led to new large-scale displacements.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported over 1,800 displacements on Tuesday alone in South Kordofan, and nearly 40,000 people were uprooted between October 25 and November 18 in North Kordofan.
War in Sudan erupted in April 2023 due to a power struggle between the RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), escalating into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, characterized by faminemass displacement, and widespread atrocities.
Trafficking issues
Independent human rights experts raised alarm Thursday over reports of trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation and slavery, and recruitment of children as fighters, especially since the RSF capture of El Fasher.
“We are deeply concerned by alarming reports of human trafficking since the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) gained control of El Fasher and its surroundings,” the experts stated.
“Women and girls are being abducted in RSF-controlled areas, and unaccompanied and separated women and children face high risks of sexual violence and exploitation.“
Since the start of El Fasher’s siege in May 2024, over 470,000 people have been repeatedly displaced from camps such as Shagra, Zamzam, and Abu Shouk. In Sudan, nearly 12 million people, about half of them children, are now displaced or have fled to neighboring countries,
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