Governments Should Ensure Civilian Protection, Safe Movement

Global leaders need to respond to reports of fresh attacks by Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the Zamzam displacement camp near North Darfur's capital of El Fasher. The camp hosts at least half a million people who have fled past and present violence and abuse in Darfur.

In recent days, hundreds of desperate civilians have arrived in Tawila, a town 60 kilometers west of Zamzam, destitute, hungry, and thirsty, reporting that conditions in Zamzam had become unbearable.

Since May 2024, the RSF have besieged civilians living in and around El Fasher, cutting off supplies and shelling populated areas. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and their allied joint forces, which claim to be defending the city, have not appeared to take all feasible measures that they could to minimize harm to civilians, including during heavy fighting in and around populated areas.

The RSF attacked the Zamzam camp in February 2025, destroying civilian infrastructure. International bodies had earlier confirmed famine in the camp, but civilians there had largely been spared from the fighting. Following the new attacks, however, the handful of aid organizations operating in the camp, including Médecins Sans Frontières(Doctors without Borders or MSF) and the United Nations' World Food Programme, halted services for civilians dying of hunger.

There have been worrying signs of a large-scale imminent attack for days. Abdel Raheem Dagalo, the deputy RSF leader, was recently filmed mobilizing forces engaged in El Fasher. On April 10, RSF shelling hit El Fasher's Abu Shouk camp. Local responders reported more than a dozen people, including children, had died.

There were similar warning signs ahead of the RSF's attacks on the suburb of Ardamata in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur and the last safe haven for ethnic Massalit, in late 2023; a massacre of civilians ensued.

In June 2024, the UN Security Council passed a resolution condemning the RSF siege of El Fasher and pressing all parties to protect civilians, guarantee their safe movement, and calling for safe aid access. But the RSF has ignored these calls.

The consequences of a large-scale attack for the civilian population are all too clear. Global leaders need to act. The UN Security Council should meet and respond to the crisis, including by imposing sanctions on abusive commanders and condemning countries providing support to parties in violation of the ongoing UN arms embargo.

Laetitia Bader, Director, Horn of Africa