UN agencies report worsening conditions across North Darfur and Kordofan, with independent human rights experts warning of increased risks to women and children amid the collapse of protection following the city’s fall.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took control of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, on 26 October after an 18-month siege that deprived residents of essential supplies. This was the government’s last major stronghold in Darfur.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) indicated that families fleeing the conflict are now dispersed across five areas near El Fasher, including Tawila, with some reaching farther locations like Dabbah and Khartoum.
Presently, 1,485 metric tons of food and nutrition supplies, enough for about 130,000 people, are being transported to Tawila via the Dabbah Crossing, supplementing aid for those displaced earlier this year.
Renewed fighting in Kordofan
Renewed fighting in Kordofan is causing further mass displacement.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported over 1,800 people displaced in South Kordofan on Tuesday alone, with nearly 40,000 uprooted in North Kordofan from 25 October to 18 November.
Sudan’s war erupted in April 2023 due to a power struggle between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), quickly becoming a severe humanitarian crisis marked by famine, mass displacement, and widespread atrocities.
Trafficking concerns
Independent human rights experts expressed alarm over reports of trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation and child recruitment as fighters since the RSF takeover of El Fasher.
They reported that women and girls have been abducted in RSF-controlled areas, with women, unaccompanied, and separated children facing high risks of sexual violence.
Since the siege of El Fasher began in May 2024, over 470,000 people have been displaced multiple times, with nearly 12 million across Sudan forcibly displaced or having fled, facing sexual violence in conflict zones.
The experts, not UN staff but appointed by the Human Rights Council, noted multiple incidents of rape and sexual abuse near RSF checkpoints and at sites sheltering displaced people, including the gang-rape of 25 women near El Fasher University.
They called for an immediate halt to civilian violations and urged Member States to take urgent action following the Human Rights Council’s recent special session on El Fasher.
UN envoy to press for dialogue
The UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, is set to travel to Port Sudan and Addis Ababa to advocate for renewed political dialogue, focusing on civilian protection and humanitarian access in Darfur and Kordofan.
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