UN Urged to Act as Sudan Faces Worsening Civilian Crisis Amid RSF Power Grab

UN Urged to Act as Sudan Faces Worsening Civilian Crisis Amid RSF Power Grab
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Human Rights Watch has called on the UN Security Council to take urgent measures to protect civilians in Sudan as fighting between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) intensifies, HRW website reported. The conflict has caused mass killings, displacement, and starvation, particularly in Darfur and Kordofan regions.

Since April 2024, RSF attacks have besieged El Fasher and Zamzam camps, killing hundreds, destroying infrastructure, and blocking humanitarian aid. Civilians report resorting to animal fodder, and women and children face sexual violence at checkpoints. Aid convoys have been attacked, and the UN reports that food shortages and starvation are widespread.

Adding to the crisis, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the RSF, was sworn in as leader of a parallel Sudanese government in Nyala, Darfur, signaling a step toward de facto partition. Nyala serves as the RSF’s de facto capital, where a prime minister and presidential council were appointed. The RSF continues to battle SAF forces for al-Fashir, maintaining a siege that has trapped hundreds of thousands of civilians for over 500 days. Satellite imagery shows barriers preventing civilians from leaving, while those who escape report attacks and robberies.

The SAF has regained control of central and eastern Sudan, establishing a new government, but fighting continues in Kordofan. UNICEF reports over 1,000 children killed or maimed. The war has pushed half of Sudan’s population into hunger, devastated the economy, and triggered the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Human Rights Watch urges the UN to expand the arms embargo, impose targeted sanctions, ensure humanitarian access, and consider a protection-of-civilians mission.