Tens of thousands of civilians displaced from el-Fasher in Sudan’s North Darfur state are facing severe shortages of food, shelter, and medical supplies after fleeing the city’s capture by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to international aid organizations and displaced individuals. The displacement followed an extended offensive by the RSF against the government-aligned Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), which had held the city.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported in January that more than 120,000 people fled the RSF’s capture of el-Fasher, with approximately 75 percent of them having been previously displaced. In a separate report, the World Food Programme stated that between 70,000 and 100,000 people remained in the city. The medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), whose teams visited el-Fasher in January, described the city as a “ghost town.”
Following the city’s capture, the United Nations and human rights groups reported the systematic targeting of non-Arab populations, including the Zaghawa and Fur ethnic groups. On Jan. 19, Nazhat Shameem Khan, the International Criminal Court’s deputy prosecutor, told the U.N. Security Council that her office had received information indicating the RSF committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, which analyzed satellite imagery of the area, reported findings consistent with systematic efforts to destroy evidence of mass killings.
In October, RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo acknowledged that his fighters had committed abuses and stated that some perpetrators had been arrested.
Many of those who left el-Fasher have traveled approximately 50 kilometers west to the Tawila displacement camp. Individuals who made the journey described difficult conditions.
“Armed men stopped us and stole everything of value, gold, cash and food,” Montaha Omer Mustafa, an 18-year-old at the camp, told Al Jazeera.
Upon arrival, displaced persons report inadequate resources. “The weather is very cold. We do not have mattresses to sleep on or blankets to cover ourselves,” Mustafa said. “We lack food, and getting water is extremely difficult.”
These accounts align with reports from aid organizations. The Sudan Doctors Network warned in October that health facilities in Tawila faced shortages of medicines, medical supplies, and safe drinking water. Abdalla Ahmed Fadul Abu-Zaid, who arrived at the camp after his leg was amputated, said his family of eight had received aid rations only twice in over four months.
The journey from el-Fasher itself presents obstacles, according to a rights monitor. Mohamed Badawi, an activist with the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies, told Al Jazeera that RSF fighters at checkpoints often charge people fees for passage, with amounts reportedly ranging from $500 to $1,600.
