El Fasher Falls into ‘Even Darker Hell’, UN Warns

By Our Reporter

The Sudanese city of El Fasher, already under a devastating siege for more than 500 days amid the country’s raging conflict, has now descended into an “even darker hell” with profound civilian costs, two senior United Nations officials told the Security Council on 30 October, as delegates decried “shocking” and “horrific” crimes following the city’s capture by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group.

“What is unfolding in El Fasher recalls the horrors Darfur was subjected to 20 years ago,” said Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. As RSF forces took the city days ago, reports of sexual violence, attacks on aid workers, and extreme dangers for children have escalated. Already, over 90 per cent of children lack access to education, and more than 24 million people, 40 per cent of the population, do not have sufficient food.

“The world has failed an entire generation,” he stressed, adding: “The Sudan crisis is, at its core, a failure of protection, and of our responsibility to uphold international law.” He condemned the renewed attacks on civilians, including the reported killing of nearly 500 people at El Fasher’s Saudi Maternity Hospital, and blamed RSF for blocking humanitarian access to traumatised communities. Despite severe challenges, humanitarian operations have reached some 13.5 million people, he said, announcing US$20 million in new UN funding for Darfur and Kordofan States.

Also briefing the Council was Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the UN Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, who outlined the “profound” human costs of El Fasher’s fall to RSF. There are credible reports of ethnically targeted violence, high rates of sexual assault, mass killings, and house-to-house searches. Communications have been cut off, and the situation remains chaotic. “Despite commitments to protect civilians, the reality is that no one is safe in El Fasher,” she said.

Urging the parties to return to the negotiating table in good faith as the only way to reverse Sudan’s “spiralling descent into de facto fragmentation”, she said UN Secretary-General António Guterres had been unequivocal in calling for external interference in Sudan’s conflict to stop. She also echoed Mr Fletcher’s concerns over the global community’s “indifference” and “resignation”, calling on the Council to act. “Reports and warnings about the unfolding catastrophe in El Fasher have been issued for months, yet the UN and the Security Council have not taken decisive action to prevent the situation from deteriorating,” she said.

In the ensuing debate, Council members universally expressed concern over the escalating and horrific violence against civilians. Many called for urgent action at regional and international levels, including on humanitarian aid delivery and accountability for perpetrators. Several speakers also focused on allegations of external support for the RSF militia, voicing strong support for Sudan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“The scenario we all feared and advocated to avoid has now become a horrifying reality,” said Algeria’s representative, also speaking on behalf of Guyana, Sierra Leone, and Somalia. The unfolding tragedy, he added, was a brazen defiance of Council Resolution 2736 (2024) and marked a dangerous step towards Sudan’s fragmentation. As RSF advances, its troops have unleashed “an avalanche of brutality against civilians, worse than we could have ever imagined”. Demanding a strong reaction from the international community, he decried its passive approach, insisting: “This Council cannot and must not remain silent.”

The United Kingdom’s representative said his delegation had convened the meeting ahead of schedule in view of the rapidly escalating and “horrifying” violence in El Fasher and its devastating impact on civilians. “Reports of atrocities, including targeted killings, often on the basis of ethnicity, torture, and sexual and gender-based violence are horrifying,” he said.

Meanwhile, France’s delegate, echoed by the representative of Slovenia, said those reports brought to mind the genocide committed in Darfur decades ago. Urging the Council to consider new sanctions against perpetrators, he joined other speakers in decrying the Sudanese Government’s decision to expel the country director of the World Food Programme (WFP) at a time when 25 million Sudanese are suffering from acute food insecurity.

The representative of Panama also voiced grave concern over both the humanitarian situation and human rights violations in El Fasher, noting that the violence unleashed by RSF had reached “levels of cruelty that are unbearable”, including systematic massacres, attacks on hospitals, markets, and refugee camps, and widespread sexual and gender-based violence. “This is not a war between armies, this is a war against civilians,” he stressed.

The representatives of the United States, the Republic of Korea, and Denmark were among those who also demanded stronger action by the Security Council, ranging from enhanced support for regional diplomatic efforts to updated sanctions lists.

The latter, voicing deep regret that “the cries of the Sudanese people have been met with silence” from the international community, demanded that RSF and its allies guarantee safe passage for civilians seeking refuge and ensure rapid, safe, unhindered, and sustained humanitarian access to El Fasher. “The protection of civilians and humanitarian access must never be politicised or used as bargaining chips, nor should they hinge on achieving a political solution,” she said, welcoming the Council’s agreement, moments earlier, on a press statement expressing grave concern over recent developments.

“This Council should not refrain from taking further action as necessary, and must rise to the occasion of this crisis,” agreed the representative of Greece, who echoed deep concern over the “appalling” humanitarian toll in El Fasher and demanded an end to violations against children in particular.

Echoing some of those points, Pakistan’s representative warned that the Council’s perceived lack of full support for the Sudanese Government only emboldened RSF and prolonged the conflict, creating a vacuum exploited by armed groups to commit further atrocities and destabilise the region. Voicing support for Sudan’s sovereignty, he unequivocally condemned the establishment of any so-called “parallel governance structures”, which undermine State institutions and risk fragmenting the country.

The representative of the Russian Federation, Council President for October, said in his national capacity that the only viable path to peace in Sudan was the re-establishment of order and the centralisation of governance. Urging humanitarian groups to work in close coordination with the Sudanese Government to deliver aid “in good faith and without politicisation”, he called on all Council members to focus on constructive engagement “rather than promoting division”. He also noted the presence of foreign fighters in Sudan, strongly rejecting any outside meddling in the country’s affairs.

“External interference must stop,” agreed China’s delegate, adding: “The collective will of the Security Council must not be disregarded.” Strongly rejecting RSF’s unfolding violence against civilians and urging all parties to end such crimes, he echoed calls for renewed dialogue, welcoming this week’s emergency meeting by the African Union and all efforts to achieve “African solutions to African issues”.

Responding to the many comments made about the recent developments, Sudan’s representative said his Government continued to facilitate access, opening border crossings and airports for relief deliveries. However, the WFP Country Director and Emergency Coordinator had violated their mandate and interfered in internal affairs, leading to their expulsion.

He described El Fasher as “a new symbol of human tragedy”, where thousands of civilians were being killed, hospitals destroyed, and women subjected to horrific violence. RSF troops “act with barbarity and without any standards of civilised conduct”, he said, fuelled by foreign mercenaries and regional sponsors. Rejecting any attempt to equate the sovereign State of Sudan with the rebel RSF militia, he urged the Council to act decisively, declaring: “Silence in the face of these crimes is not neutrality, it is complicity.” He also cited the United Arab Emirates, specifically, as the RSF’s main external sponsor.

The UAE’s delegate retorted that one warring party “continues to politicise this forum by spreading false and baseless allegations” while being directly responsible for the devastation of its own country. “Recent developments have once again revealed an undeniable truth: the path to peace cannot be forged on the battlefield,” he said. Against that backdrop, he pledged an additional US$100 million in life-saving humanitarian assistance for El Fasher, while calling for a genuine transition in Sudan leading to an independent, civilian-led Government “that is not controlled by either of the warring parties”.

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