A recent escalation of fighting between militant groups in Sudan has spread to the last-standing safe space for civilians, the city of El-Fasher, adding another 505,000 individuals to the total 9 million that have been internally displaced since the beginning of the conflict. According to human rights organizations, children are being hit the hardest by the ensuing famine and lack of healthcare following the recent resurgence of violence.
On April 15, 2023, a devastating conflict erupted in Sudan, marking the intensification of a power struggle between two rival military factions, the Sudanese Armed Forces, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and Rapid Support Forces (RSF), an autonomous paramilitary group led by chief Mohammed Hamdan “Hemedti.” Since April of this year, the conflict has spread to El-Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur.
As the fighting intensifies, human rights groups have expressed alarm that it could lead to mass targeting among ethnic lines as the country’s old wounds of ethnic violence and crimes against humanity are reopened.
“Hell on Earth”
The city of El-Fasher has become the latest epicenter of the decades-long conflict in Darfur, as it remains the last city operated by the SAF. Since May 10, a siege imposed by RSF has caused a food and medicine shortage that will threaten the lives of hundreds of civilians if aid is not able to get in.
Ex-Darfur political leaders of rebel groups, such as Minni Minnawi, have broken months of neutrality, joining the SAF in response to the RSF’s repeated attacks. Minnawi described the situation to Al Jazeera, arguing that the civilian deaths are evidence that “the goal of those attacking el-Fasher is to exterminate the city.”
Due to the blockade preventing international aid groups and convoys from getting in, civilians in Darfur are having to rely on mutual aid youth groups who are risking their lives to set up medical clinics and kitchens to feed people.
UN officials referred to the situation in El-Fasher as “hell on Earth” and warned that genocide crimes may be committed. But the conflict itself is not the worst aspect of the crisis. The collapsed healthcare and international aid, coupled with severe malnutrition and the greatest displacement crisis of children in the world of 4 million, threatens to kill far more children than the fighting alone, according to UNICEF.
Children are “easy targets”
The UN reported in March that 3.7 million children are suffering from acute malnutrition, and over 730,000 are suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM), the deadliest form of malnutrition that requires specialized, uninterrupted, life-saving treatment.
The lack of safe spaces for children is becoming increasingly urgent. With the outbreak of fighting last year, not only are civilians being caught in the crossfire, but the militants are intentionally targeting displacement camps and medical centers.
The medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported on May 28 that South Hospital in El Fasher had treated 979 casualties in the preceding two weeks, and had seen 134 deaths. The hospital had been hit by mortars and shelling on May 25, a direct consequence of the RSF’s intensified assault on the city which began on May 10.
The situation is also critical in the displacement camp of Abu Shouk, housing victims of the 2000s Darfur conflict, where indiscriminate shelling and reported abuses by the RSF have caused an estimated 60% of residents to flee the camp. On May 23, the camp was overrun by the RSF, leading to widespread killings, lootings, arrests, and arson.
“We see a bloodbath unfolding before our own eyes in El Fasher,” said Claire Nicolet, MSF Programme Manager for Sudan.
In this deteriorating humanitarian context, children are increasingly vulnerable to exploitation and become “easy targets” as weapons of war, explained Siobhán Mullaly, UN Special Rapporteur. Recruitment of child soldiers in Darfur, as well as the abduction of young girls for sexual slavery, has sharply increased with the outbreak of violence last year. Due to the lack of humanitarian access, children may be joining armed groups as a means of survival, she added.
A multidimensional conflict
More than a year of fighting since April 2023 has killed over 15,500 people, according to Armed Conflict Location & Events Data (ACLED) as of April. A ceasefire agreement broke down as the neutrality faltered and leaders in Darfur became too closely aligned with the military. Power struggles following the ousting of former President Omar al-Bashir and competition between the SAF and RSF decreased hopes of a democratic transition with an interethnic dimension, particularly the targeting of the Masalit community, a non-Arab ethnic group, by Arab forces.
The conflict, which originally flared up in 2003, escalated again in 2023, with ethnic violence towards the Masalit people.
The ongoing fighting has placed Sudan on the Emergency Watchlist of the International Rescue Committee as its deteriorating humanitarian crisis has left 5.9 million internally displaced since April 2023, adding to the 9.6 million already displaced. Over half of Sudan’s population–approximately 24.8 million people–now requires humanitarian aid.
Around 1,000 new refugees flee across the border to Chad every day, which now has more refugees than anywhere else in Africa, including 600,000 Sudanese, despite being one of the 5 poorest countries in the world.
