Content warning: violence, sexual assault
For over 500 days, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a Sudanese paramilitary group, have besieged the city of el-Fasher in North Darfur, Sudan. The siege has resulted in an unprecedented human crisis, beginning in April 2024, symptomatic of the violence of the civil conflict that broke out a year earlier.
In 2019, Sudan was left in turmoil after the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) overthrew dictator and President al-Bashir, who had ruled over Sudan since 1989. The leaders of the coup, namely General Abdel Fattah-al-Burhan, head of the SAF and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, or ‘Hemedti’, leader of the RSF, rejected civilian rule and overturned the government together in 2021. Burhan became the head of government with Hemedti as his equal. As allies, the RSF and the SAF fought off rebel groups in North Darfur jointly, but were already showing a tendency for excessive violence, notably against civilians. When collaborating, both groups were accused of perpetuating war crimes, including genocide and ethnic cleansing, notably targeting non-Arab populations of North Darfur or Kordofan. Yet the eventual merging of the RSF into the Sudanese Army began to create tensions between the two men over who would lead the united force, and thus hold power in Sudan.
Hence it was not long until hostilities began in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital. On April 15 2023, the first shots of the civil war were fired, with the RSF and the SAF each accusing the other of firing first. The conflict rapidly spread to Darfur, North Kordofan, and the Gezira – strongholds of the RSF. Khartoum is in the hands of the Sudan Armed Forces after seizing it in March 2025, even if the city is not unscathed.As the SAF were forced to retire from the capital, the army of General Dagalo took revenge on civilians, as witnessed by Anne Applebaum, journalist for the Atlantic. Dalago’s RSF forces not only looted and destroyed the city’s infrastructure, but turned their artillery towards residential neighbourhoods as they were losing ground in the capital throughout March. Furthermore, the conflict incited new waves of ethnically motivated attacks, and violence directed towards non-Arab communities has sparked up, with accusations on both parties of the civil war.
The siege of el-Fasher illustrates the extent of the disaster the conflict has on the Sudanese
population. While over half of Sudan suffers from malnutrition – with 24.6 out of its 46 million
citizens exposed to acute hunger and 637,000 people on the brink of famine – the situation is only amplified in el-Fashe. Supply lines have been cut by the RSF siege on the city, leaving UN food and supply convoys vulnerable and unable to reach their destinations. Human Rights groups like the Committee for Justice and Amnesty International and UN experts accuse the RSF and SAF rebels of weaponising food. UN experts predict that the situation is bound to get worse over time, especially considering the effects of environmental instability – such as recent severe droughts and floods in Sudan – on the ongoing hunger crisis.
Though 600,000 people, over half of which are children, were able to flee el-Fasher, 260,000 people, including about 130,000 children, remain trapped in the besieged city. UNICEF chief Catherin Russell warns about the extent of children’s rights violations in el-Fasher, expressing that “the lives of children are hanging in the balance” amidst the blocking of aid and the continued food scarcity. Since the beginning of the siege, UNICEF have registered over 1,100 grave children rights violations, including the killing and maiming of children but also sexual violence and abduction by different armed groups.
Contaminated water sources have led to a historic outbreak of cholera in Sudan, the worst in decades. There are over 100,000 suspected cases in the country and 2,400 cholera-related fatalities with an epicentre in el-Fasher. The current siege in addition to subsequent power and electricity cuts renders the healthcare system in the city completely inoperant, worsening the epidemic and the conditions of citizens.
Those who have managed to escape el-Fasher are not necessarily better off. The conflict’s rapid spread from Khartoum to other cities in Sudan has led to mass displacement. According to the last available data, over 12 million people have been forcefully displaced in Sudan, not including the refugees already living in neighbouring countries, making this the worst displacement crisis in the world.
Displaced people from both el-Fasher and Khartoum face epidemics, hunger, and other hardships while having access to little or no aid.
The RSF has also besieged the city of el Obeid, a key entry point into central Sudan, as well as Dilling and Kadugli in Kordofan – and the limited aid coming into Sudan can no longer suffice. Despite the gravity of the humanitarian situation in Sudan, the international community remains silent, according to officials from the UN and Amnesty International. UN Health Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus condemned the lack of interest in Sudan’s situation, telling the BBC “I think race is at play here.” Amnesty International has described the international response to the crisis as “woefully inadequate.”
Until 2024, USAID was the main support Sudan received. Therefore, US President Donald Trump’s recent decision of cutting aid directly impacts Sudan. The cuts were radical, with 83 per cent of the staff of USAID dismissed. For its part, the Canadian Government claims to engage itself deeply in humanitarian aid through UN agencies and trusted partners. However, that has been largely insufficient to solve the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.
Though the Sudanese conflict has been cast into the shadows in the international press, humanitarian activist groups like UNICEF, Amnesty International, and the International Rescue Committee continue to act to ensure that civilians receive dire aid amidst the siege.