Calls for an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian corridors grow as civilians face starvation, sexual violence, and mass displacement in the wake of a paramilitary takeover.
NAIROBI/GENEVA – The United Nations and international humanitarian organizations are issuing increasingly desperate appeals for a ceasefire and the establishment of secure humanitarian corridors to reach tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, following its capture by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) last month.
The fall of el-Fasher, the last major city in the Darfur region previously held by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), marks a pivotal and grim turning point in a war that has pushed the country to the brink of famine and reignited the ethnic violence that scarred the region two decades ago.
In an interview with Al Jazeera on Wednesday, Amy Pope, the director-general of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), stated that the absolute “primary concern is getting access” to a population that has been largely cut off from life-saving aid and services.
“When humanitarian actors are themselves at risk – when they’re killed, when they’re shot, when they’re detained – we can’t get the people what they need to survive,” Pope said, underscoring the perilous conditions for aid workers. “The primary issue is ensuring that there is a ceasefire, a humanitarian corridor, so that aid groups can bring in that aid to the civilians who are very much caught in the middle.”
A City Besieged, A Region in Peril
El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, was a critical humanitarian hub before the RSF seized control on October 26. Its capture has effectively choked off a major lifeline for the entire region. While thousands remain trapped inside the city, IOM reports that nearly 90,000 people have fled since the takeover, adding to the millions already displaced by the conflict.
Those who escaped describe a harrowing journey. “They spoke about seeing dead bodies as they walked. They spoke about having to create makeshift trenches to avoid being shot at, or being harmed by the drones. They spoke of unspeakable, unbearable, sexual trauma [and] sexual abuse,” Pope recounted. “The stories are really harrowing, and they’re happening now even as we speak.”
Human rights groups have accused the RSF and its allied militias of committing widescale atrocities during their assault on el-Fasher, including mass killings targeting the Masalit community and other non-Arab groups—echoing the genocide of the early 2000s.
Aid System on the ‘Brink of Collapse’
The crisis in el-Fasher is unfolding against the backdrop of a near-total collapse of Sudan’s humanitarian aid system. On Tuesday, the IOM warned that operations were “on the brink of collapse” due to relentless insecurity and a critical lack of funding.
“Warehouses are nearly empty, aid convoys face significant insecurity, and access restrictions continue to prevent the delivery of sufficient aid,” the agency said in a statement. The violence is also spreading, with the IOM reporting that nearly 39,000 people have fled intense fighting in North Kordofan state, east of el-Fasher, in recent weeks.
Women and Girls Bear the Brunt
The conflict has a distinctly gendered impact, with women and girls facing systematic sexual violence used as a weapon of war. Anna Mutavati, the regional director for East and Southern Africa at UN Women, told reporters in Geneva that those who fled el-Fasher now face grave dangers in the displacement camps around the city.
“What the women tell us is that … every step that they’ve taken – to fetch water, to collect firewood, or to stand in a food line – is carrying a high risk of sexual violence,” Mutavati said.
She delivered a stark condemnation of the tactics being employed: “There is mounting evidence that rape is being deliberately and systematically used as a weapon of war. Women’s bodies … have just become a crime scene in Sudan.”
A War for the Nation’s Future
The battle for el-Fasher is a key front in the wider war between the SAF, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti. The two generals were former allies who orchestrated a military coup in 2021 but turned on each other in a brutal power struggle for control of Sudan in April 2023.
The RSF’s victory in Darfur solidifies its control over most of western Sudan and provides a strategic and symbolic boost. The group, which evolved from the Janjaweed militias accused of genocide in the 2000s, now appears to be consolidating its grip on the region, while the fight for the rest of the country, including the capital Khartoum, grinds on with no end in sight.
As diplomatic efforts stall and the world’s attention remains fragmented, the people of el-Fasher and millions across Sudan are left waiting for a lifeline that, for now, remains blocked by bullets, bureaucracy, and a profound failure of the international community to stop the war.
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