Debating Ideas reflects the values and editorial ethos of the African Arguments book series, publishing engaged, often radical, scholarship, original and activist writing from within the African continent and beyond. It offers debates and engagements, contexts and controversies, and reviews and responses flowing from the African Arguments books. It is edited and managed by the International African Institute, hosted at SOAS University of London, the owners of the book series of the same name.
After several weeks of seeing mass starvation of people in Gaza on our television screens, finally there is trickle of news about starvation in El Fasher, Both areas are under siege, and starvation is used for the purpose of emptying and occupying them This blog post calls for, Second, a massive injection of food is needed to prevent more people from dying. Third, as a resident of El Fasher noted, 'El Fasher is under military siege, but not under Bankak siege' meaning that digital transfers of money using the payment application Bankak can and needs to continue. This comes at a - very high - cost, which we discuss below, but until the other two conditions are in place this is the only way to provide help and save lives.
As in Gaza, fifteen months of blocking food and aid into El Fasher - which has tightened in the past three months - is an act of starvation of those who remain there. Hundreds of thousands have already left, with the RSF advertising the advantages of doing so, but simultaneously charging high fees for transport once outside the city. On the 25 July 2025, the North Darfur Emergency Rooms Council issued a statement about a catastrophic humanitarian reality experienced by thousands of displaced people inside El Fasher. The message was that food insecurity levels have reached an unprecedented level, with their field estimates indicating a near total lack of staple foods. Others report sky-rocketing food prices and people resorting to eating food usually reserved for animals such as umbaz (oil cakes). The difference with Gaza, of course, is that the siege and starvation in El Fasher has been largely internationally.
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The main form of aid going into besieged El Fasher has been financial transfers using the Bank of Khartoum banking app, Bankak. The financial transfers come from Sudanese living elsewhere in Sudan, diaspora groups outside of Sudan, and some NGOs and UN organisations. For example, WFP transferred cash to a large part of the population in this way in June 2025. Without state-provided internet services, Starlink satellite disks are used in centres and by individuals to connect people to the internet, which enable the sending and receiving of transfers. Financial transfers from abroad either go direct to families or to support community initiatives, such as the Takaya ( community kitchens). These transfers often go direct to who in the absence of official banks act as mini banks. Few other individuals had bank accounts because of and the nature of their work in informal sector. The continued flow of these transfers allows community groups to continue public feeding programs, Starlink centres charge per hour for internet services, and prices have increased over the past month but not massively compared to food. Internet access prices go up and down according to security conditions and the need for surveillance measures as both and civilian groups use the same internet connection.
Food prices are increasing massively as hardly any food crosses the siege frontline, dramatically reducing stocks in the city. Up until about three months ago, traders used to offload goods in villages close to El Fasher and women used to continue the journey into the town at night by donkey. This is no longer possible because of the RSF's recent tightening of the siege from all sides.[1] This tightening has also reduced WFP convoys attempting to bring in-kind food aid have been repeatedly blocked, with the latest convoy being attacked in June in El Kuma, 85 km east of El Fasher. In addition, the RSF has systematically attacked and destroyed markets, cut off water supplies and targeted the health care system, almost entirely destroying it. The SAF have also bombarded a number of markets. Some food continues to be smuggled into the town, but it is dangerous for those venturing outside the siege frontline, and because of the high demand, speculation and hoarding are common. As a consequence, at the time of writing, the price of sorghum is 25 times higher in El Fasher than in the surrounding areas. In the last 10 days the price increased by 100%. When money transfers are made via Bankak, the cost is increased further with more than half the funds deducted as fee for the transaction alone. The fee is retained by those operating digital banking accounts and who are also brokering access to goods as well as cash. According to a community kitchen organiser, 'I bought oil for 460 thousand pounds with Bankak, I then sold it to obtain 230 thousand pounds in cash because I need this to buy firewood, water, and other items'. Merchants accumulate their cash balances and sell goods at a high price.
International Humanitarian law (IHL) and International Criminal Law (ICL), specify starvation as a crime: 'It is prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population ... for the specific purpose of denying them for their sustenance ... whether in order to starve out civilians, to cause them to move away, or for any other motive'. The crime of starvation includes willfully obstructing humanitarian aid. The term 'objects indispensable to survival' includes food, but also water, medicine, clothing, shelter, fuel, and electricity. As in Gaza, we are witnessing the crime of starvation, which requires a separate response to prosecute and deter those responsible.
Given the siege, the only way to provide assistance right now is by sending money transfers, in the hope that food can continue to be smuggled into El Fasher and that relatives will have at least one meal - at whatever cost. However, this is far from ideal. As indicated above, the transaction costs (physical, safety, financial) are very high. In addition, our interviews with Sudanese in the UK reveal their despair at the burden of providing the bulk of aid in Sudan's humanitarian crisis. They spend savings, take on additional work, sell assets and organise fundraising activities, as well as severely limiting spending on themselves. For recently arrived refugees, the need to help relatives from their meagre and precarious income (if any) is directly impacting their own well-being.
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What is needed, therefore, is an increase in humanitarian aid funding through local and international organisations. Equally important are concerted diplomatic efforts to break the siege, and to bring massive quantities of food into El Fasher. At the same time, it will be important to monitor how the current way of providing aid to people in a town under siege feeds into inequalities and exacerbates the war economy to determine how to mitigate this once immediate life-saving measures have been taken.
End notes:
[1] Humanitarian Update - 13th July 2025. ABANDONMENT OF EL FASHER: THE FINAL THRESHOLD? Understanding markets project.
*This piece was co-authored with local researchers on the ground whose names are withheld for security reasons. It was first submitted on the 8th of August and updated since to reflect the developments on the ground.
Debating Ideas aims to reflect the values and editorial ethos of the African Arguments book series, publishing engaged, often radical, scholarship, original and activist writing from within the African continent and beyond. It offers debates and engagements, contexts and controversies, and reviews and responses flowing from the African Arguments books.
