El-Fasher Survivors Face Hunger and Detentions One Year After RSF Siege

Approximately 800,000 people from North Darfur’s capital now reside in the Tawila refugee camp, where survivors report facing hunger and continued detention by the Rapid Support Forces one year after the city’s fall. Hala, a resident who returned to el-Fasher three weeks ago to retrieve personal documents, described a climate of fear where RSF fighters issue handwritten permits and question civilians upon arrival. She noted that while she escaped physical attack due to nearby witnesses, women face sexual violence and those who refuse RSF demands are often beaten or tortured.

The RSF launched its final offensive on October 26, 2025, following a siege that lasted more than 500 days. This assault marked the largest single massacre of the war between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces, which began in April 2023. Researchers at Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab compared the speed and scale of the killing to the Rwandan genocide. Mohamed Hassan, a survivor, stated that fighters executed men they identified as soldiers from the army or allied Joint Forces, resulting in close to 500 deaths at the Saudi Maternity Hospital alone.

Monitoring groups counted at least 6,000 dead in the first 72 hours using satellite imagery, though the full toll remains unknown due to a communications blackout. In the North Kordofan town of Bara, volunteers recovered more than 600 bodies from 200 mass graves this week. Most were civilians killed during the October offensive. Yale researchers identified 150 clusters of objects consistent with human remains between October 26 and November 28, 2025. Of these, 57 sites vanished entirely within four weeks, while 20 showed signs of burning.

RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, announced an investigation into violations by his soldiers. A UN team that entered the city in December described it as a crime scene, finding that one in six people screened suffered from severe acute malnutrition. A doctor who worked in an el-Fasher hospital for two years recalled operating by phone flashlight and relying on animal fodder when standard supplies ran out. A UN fact-finding mission concluded in February that the RSF committed acts of genocide in the region.

The UAE, which is accused of backing the RSF, continues to deny involvement despite UN findings that private companies routed weapons through Chad, Libya, and Somalia. Mona Rishmawi of the UN mission stated the supplies included drones and logistical help. The United States remains the UAE’s top weapons supplier, and British weaponry has been found on Sudanese battlefields. In el-Fasher, survivors say the RSF still detains fleeing men and demands ransoms of up to $3,000. Mudathir Mohammed Diqourni of an el-Fasher resistance committee reported that RSF militias are destroying farms and killing farmers in South and Central Darfur.

Khadijah, an elderly woman from el-Geneina, now lives under a tree on a farm with little food and no shelter. Hala has returned to Tawila and says she will not go back to el-Fasher. The city remains under RSF control, with human rights investigators barred from entry. The conflict continues to displace populations across the region as evidence of the initial massacre is dismantled.