UN agencies say conditions are deteriorating further in North Darfur and neighboring Kordofan, while independent human rights experts warned on Thursday that the collapse of protections following the city’s fall has significantly increased the risks facing women and children.
Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took control of El Fasher – the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state – on October 26, after an 18-month siege that left residents without food, medicine and other essential supplies. The town was the last major government stronghold in the Darfur region.
According to to the United Nations World Food Program (PAM), families who fled the fighting are now scattered across five sites surrounding El Fasher, notably Tawila, while others reached more distant areas like Dabbah in the Northern State and even the national capital, Khartoum.
Currently, 1,485 tonnes of food and nutrition products – enough to feed around 130,000 people – are on their way to Tawila via the Dabbah crossing, adding to ongoing assistance to people displaced earlier this year.
Resumption of fighting in Kordofan
In the meantime, resumption of fighting in the Kordofan region leads to new large-scale displacements.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that more than 1,800 people were displaced on Tuesday alone in South Kordofan, while in North Kordofan, nearly 40,000 people were uprooted between October 25 and November 18.
War in Sudan broke out in April 2023 following a power struggle between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). It quickly degenerated into one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, marked by faminemass displacement and widespread atrocities.
Trafficking issues
In this context, independent human rights experts alarm expressed Thursday, following reports of trafficking of women and girls for the purposes of sexual exploitation and slavery, as well as the recruitment of children as fighters, particularly since the RSF takeover of El Fasher.
“We are deeply concerned by alarming reports of human trafficking since the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took control of El Fasher and its surrounding areas,” the experts said.
“Women and girls have been kidnapped in areas controlled by RSF, and unaccompanied and separated women and children are at high risk of sexual violence and sexual exploitation.»
Since the start of the siege of El Fasher in May 2024, more than 470,000 people have been repeatedly displaced from the camps, including Shagra, Zamzam and Abu Shouk. In Sudan, nearly 12 million people – around half of whom are children – are now forcibly displaced or have fled to neighboring countries, and sexual violence has been reported in conflict zones across the country.
The experts – mandated and designated by the organization based in Geneva Human Rights Council and are not UN personnel – quoted multiple incidents of rape and sexual abuse near RSF checkpoints and at sites housing displaced people, including the reported gang rape of 25 women near El Fasher University.
They urged all parties to immediately end violations against civilians and called on Member States to take urgent action following the recent special session of the Human Rights Council on the situation in and around El Fasher.
UN envoy to push for dialogue
Meanwhile, the UN Secretary-General Personal envoy for SudanRamtane Lamamra, is preparing to travel to Port Sudan and Addis Ababa next week to push for renewed political dialogue. It should focus on the urgent need for protection of civilians and unhindered humanitarian access in Darfur and Kordofan.
Publicado anteriormente en Almouwatin.
