The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took control of El Fasher – the capital of the Sudanese state of North Darfur – on October 26 after an 18-month siege that left residents without food, medicine and other critical supplies. The city had been the last major government stronghold in the Darfur region.
According to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), Families who fled the fighting are now scattered across five locations. around El Fasher, including Tawila, while others have reached more distant areas, such as Dabbah in the Northern state and even the national capital, Khartoum.
Currently, 1,485 metric tons of food and nutritional supplies (enough for about 130,000 people) are on their way to Tawila through the Dabbah crossing, adding to ongoing assistance for those displaced earlier this year.
New fighting in Kordofan
Meanwhile, Renewed fighting in the Kordofan region is causing new large-scale displacement..
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that more than 1,800 people were displaced in South Kordofan alone on Tuesday, while in North Kordofan almost 40,000 people were uprooted between October 25 and November 18.
The Sudanese war broke out in April 2023 following a power struggle between the RSF and the national Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). It quickly became one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, marked by famine, mass displacement and widespread atrocities.
Trafficking concerns
In this context, independent human rights experts expressed alarm on Thursday over reports of trafficking in women and girls for sexual exploitation and sexual slavery, and the recruitment of children as combatants, particularly since the RSF takeover of El Fasher.
“We are deeply concerned by the alarming reports of human trafficking since the seizure of El Fasher and its surroundings by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF),” the experts said.
“Women and girls have been abducted in areas controlled by RSF, and women, unaccompanied and separated children are at high risk of violence and sexual exploitation.”
Since the siege of El Fasher began in May 2024, more than 470,000 people have been displaced multiple times from camps such as Shagra, Zamzam and Abu Shouk. Across Sudan, nearly 12 million people – about half of them 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 – who are mandated and appointed by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council and are not UN staff – cited multiple incidents of rape and sexual abuse near RSF checkpoints and at sites hosting displaced people, including the alleged 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 will push for dialogue
Meanwhile, the UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, is preparing to travel to Port Sudan and Addis Ababa next week to press for renewed political dialogue. It is expected to focus on the urgent need for civil protection and unimpeded humanitarian access in Darfur and Kordofan.