Conflict in Sudan The hell of Al-Fashir and the powerlessness of the world
Tens of thousands flee after the conquest of a major Sudanese city. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
According to the media, US intelligence services report that the UAE is supporting the militia (archive photo)
Image: dpa
Experts fear massacres of civilians. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
The Sudanese government declares World Food Program employees as undesirables. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
Tens of thousands flee after the conquest of a major Sudanese city. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
According to the media, US intelligence services report that the UAE is supporting the militia (archive photo)
Image: dpa
Experts fear massacres of civilians. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
The Sudanese government declares World Food Program employees as undesirables. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
Killings, torture, rape and hunger. The people in the Sudanese region of Darfur are suffering the worst atrocities. Now the UN Human Rights Council is discussing what can be done.
14.11.2025, 09:08
14.11.2025, 09:25
dpa
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- There is acute famine and a humanitarian catastrophe in Al-Fashir, as the RSF militia controls the city, blocks escape routes and prevents aid deliveries.
- The fighting in Darfur is ethnically motivated and, according to the UN, is specifically directed against non-Arab groups, reminding observers of the genocide in Rwanda.
- The UN Human Rights Council can only exert political pressure, while peace negotiations have so far failed due to a lack of consent from the army and geopolitical interests.
The situation in Sudan, which is being fought over by the army and the RSF militia, could hardly be more serious. For two and a half years, the population in the country on the Horn of Africa has also been suffering from the conflict and their need is growing. Refugees from the large city of Al-Fashir in the western region of Darfur report brutal violence by the militias, murder, torture and war crimes. The UN Human Rights Council is holding an emergency meeting in Geneva today to discuss the situation. The question that arises: What good can it do?
Why is the situation in al-Fashir so catastrophic?
After Al-Fashir had been besieged and fiercely fought over by the RSF for around a year and a half, the large city was taken by the militia at the end of October. Since then, according to experts, around 260,000 people have been trapped in the city without food or medical care. The RSF is blocking escape routes. The IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) initiative, recognized worldwide as an authority on food security, speaks of a famine in Al-Fashir.
"There are many corpses in the streets, dead bodies everywhere, and many children who have lost their families," Amira, who made it to the neighboring town of Tawila with her child on her back, told the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).
Why is the UN not helping the people of Al-Fashir?
It has no access to the city. "Since July, we have been calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in Al-Fashir so that our life-saving convoys with food and medicine can safely reach those in need. We have been blocked by the RSF," says UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher, who is currently traveling in Darfur. The United Nations has no troops to fight the way for UN humanitarian aid into conflict areas.
"Life-saving supplies are standing by," says a spokesman for Fletcher's office. "But we need guarantees that we can distribute the aid safely." The UN is in Tawila, around 60 kilometers southwest of Al-Fashir. Many of the more than 80,000 people who have fled Al-Fashir since the end of October have arrived there.
What is the fighting in Darfur about?
The conflict in Darfur is largely shaped by ethnic factors that are closely interwoven with issues of land rights, resource distribution and political marginalization. It is primarily about competition for land and water between sedentary, non-Arab ethnic groups and traditionally nomadic, Arab groups.
The RSF is a successor organization to Arab militias and, according to reports from UN representatives, is specifically targeting the non-Arab part of the population. The Sudanese Doctors' Network accuses the RSF of "genocide". Sheldon Yett, the Sudan envoy of the UN Children's Fund, Unicef, also compares the situation in Sudan with the genocide in Rwanda in the 1990s.
What is the situation in the rest of the country?
The situation is currently considered the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world. More than twelve million people are on the run. Around 26 million people, a good half of the population, are threatened by hunger. According to an estimate quoted by the USA, up to 150,000 people could have died since the outbreak of the conflict in April 2023. The army recaptured the capital Khartoum in spring 2025. Both sides in the conflict are accused of war crimes and serious human rights violations. Both the army and the RSF deny any guilt.
What can the UN Human Rights Council do?
Denounce and increase moral pressure, hardly more. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has repeatedly condemned the excesses of violence in Al-Fashir and other regions of Sudan. He speaks of "heinous atrocities, summary executions, rape and ethnically motivated violence". He condemns states that supply weapons to the RSF, but due to a lack of clear evidence, he does not name any of them. Conflict researchers blame the United Arab Emirates (UAE), among others, for supplying weapons to the RSF.
According to the human rights organization Human Rights Watch, the special session "provides an opportunity to shine a spotlight on abuses, take steps to hold perpetrators accountable, and increase pressure on the RSF and its supporters."
Why is there no end to the conflict?
Mediators from the USA, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are currently trying to negotiate a three-month ceasefire. At the same time, a nine-month negotiation phase is being discussed, according to Massad Boulos, advisor to the US government for Africa. The RSF agreed to a ceasefire at the beginning of November. However, the army has yet to give its consent, probably also because the UAE is one of the mediators.
How did the conflict come about?
The RSF began attacking the military and civilians in April 2023 because it refused to be integrated into the army. This led to a brutal power struggle between de facto ruler Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF. The militia has now almost completely conquered the western region of Darfur and also controls parts of the neighboring region of Kordofan. At the beginning of the year, the RSF formally established a parallel government for the areas under their control.
