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Civilians face ‘deliberate starvation' as Sudan war crisis deepens
Displaced people prepare food, following Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacks on Zamzam displacement camp, as they shelter in the town of Tawila, North Darfur, Sudan, April 15, 2025.
What you need to know:
- Rights advocates said the world should mount attention to rising atrocities, particularly in the western Darfur region.
- The Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces have been sanctions for genocide and war crimes respectively.
Humanitarian watchdogs are warning of an irreversible disaster in Sudan, two years after the civil war began. Yet the warring sides have lost less, with the burden falling on more than 30 million people who in urgent need of aid, or more than half of the country’s population.
Aid workers said this week Sudan’s war has been less deadly on weaponry, but the biggest weapon used has been starvation.
The United Nations reported this week that over 13 million people have been displaced since fighting erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on April 15, 2023.
Human Rights Watch accused both sides of looting and blocking humanitarian convoys, with the RSF particularly implicated in attacks against civilians in Darfur. In El Fasher, the last stronghold of the Sudanese army in Darfur, the RSF launched attacks last week, besieging the town, raising fears of a looming massacre. At least 300 people were killed near a refugee camp, according to war monitors Avaaz.
Rights advocates said the world should mount attention to rising atrocities, particularly in the western Darfur region, which they say has seen cycles of war crimes including targeted starvation and sexual violence.
Shayna Lewis, Sudan Specialist and Senior Advisor at PAEMA, a rights watchdog in conflict regions, called on Sudanese authorities and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to stop weaponising telecommunications and to lift the blackout on Darfur. She noted that the ongoing communications blackout is affecting millions of people and enabling the RSF to conceal their acts of genocide from the international community.
“The displaced also cannot access funds through mobile banking for evacuations, food, and to receive humanitarian assistance. The blackout is a major civilian protection threat which also affects the documentation of ongoing atrocities,” she said.
According to Adam Rijal, the spokesperson for the General Coordination of Displaced Persons and Refugees, another humanitarian agency, approximately 186,560 people fled the El Fasher area to Tawila between 3-14 April with multiple pieces of footage sent to Avaaz showed hundreds of displaced people arriving in Tawila, while another clip showed women and children leaving the Abu Shouk displacement camp on foot.
“They are in the streets, children, very little children, running without direction. Some are going to Tawila, but there is nothing in Tawila either. No food, no water, no shelter. Just more sand and heat. We are all suffering, this is not just suffering, this is torture” said Mubarak, a civilian sheltering in El Fasher.
The rights watchers spoke at a virtual meeting to assess the damage of war and the humanitarian toll on civilians. Both RSF and the SAF have been sanctions for genocide and war crimes respectively.
The RSF, now accused by multiple rights groups of razing Sudan’s largest displacement camp in Zamzam, appears poised to bring the fight into the heart of El Fasher, where nearly 200,000 people have taken shelter after fleeing previous attacks.
The UN estimates nearly 12 million people have been displaced since April 2023, while over 30 million rely on humanitarian assistance.
Further, rights groups warn that the humanitarian crisis has become a blackout zone. In Darfur—where much of the RSF's atrocities have reportedly occurred—a targeted telecommunications shutdown is preventing civilians from accessing mobile banking, contacting family, or documenting ongoing violence.
According to advocates, this information vacuum is shielding war crimes from public scrutiny, even as thousands are displaced daily.
“Infrastructure? There is no infrastructure. We are treating people under trees. Children are sleeping on cardboard. Our teams are delivering food with wheelbarrows. The temperatures are brutal, and people are collapsing from hunger and dehydration. And now the RSF is moving again. This isn’t a humanitarian crisis anymore. It’s a race against death,” said Lukman Ahmed, Executive Director of Malam Darfur, a humanitarian group now operating in Tawila.
In a statement, Moreira da Silva, UNOPS Executive Director called on the parties to immediately cease the fighting, for an inclusive political process and to urgently scale up funding and diplomatic action, to bring about a sustainable resolution to the conflict in Sudan.
“I will see first-hand the devastating effects of two years of conflict, and decades of fragility, and witness the immense challenges that colleagues face to provide life-saving support. Together with the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, we are supporting efforts to improve health services for 2.8 million people – including 175,000 internally displaced persons – living in Kassala State,” said Mr Moreira.
Selena Victor, Mercy Corps’ Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy, noted that over 30 million people depend on humanitarian aid, yet the response is still significantly underfunded.
“Despite these commitments, the stark reality remains: overall funding remains gravely insufficient to meet the scale and urgency of humanitarian needs in Sudan. With operations already stretched to the brink, local responders are being forced to shut down critical services due to funding shortages,” she said
“We urge all donors to act with the urgency this crisis demands—with funding to immediately follow commitments—to ensure life-saving assistance reaches people now, before more lives are lost. After two years of war, the people of Sudan need more than promises — they need action now,” she added.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are reportedly preparing for a large-scale assault on El Fasher, a city in North Darfur that has become a last refuge for thousands. Satellite imagery and witness reports indicate heavy shelling and mass displacement from surrounding areas like the Zamzam IDP camp, which has been all but destroyed. Civilians, including very young children, have been seen fleeing on foot under blistering 400C heat.
Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, called for stronger international intervention.
“We cannot sit back and allow another genocide to unfold in Darfur. The world promised ‘never again’ — now is the time to act.” she said.
