Sudan Crisis: Over 600,000 Displaced Amid RSF-Imposed Siege
(MENAFN) At least 600,000 people, half of them children, have fled El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur in western Sudan, amid an ongoing siege by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the UN children’s agency UNICEF reported Wednesday.
According to UNICEF, El-Fasher has become a critical hotspot for child suffering, with approximately 260,000 civilians—including 130,000 children—trapped inside the city, isolated from humanitarian aid for more than 16 months.
“We are witnessing a devastating tragedy – children in El-Fasher are starving while UNICEF’s lifesaving nutrition services are being blocked,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
The RSF’s siege, imposed since April 2024, has cut off vital supply routes, forcing health centers and mobile nutrition teams to halt operations as essential stocks run dangerously low. Currently, around 6,000 children suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) remain untreated.
Since January, UNICEF has treated over 10,000 children for SAM in El-Fasher—almost twice the number from the previous year—but these services have now ceased due to critical shortages.
Recent reports reveal that at least 63 people, predominantly women and children, died from malnutrition in a single week in the city.
Since the siege began, UNICEF has documented more than 1,100 grave violations against children in El-Fasher, including the killing or maiming of over 1,000 children in homes, displacement camps, and marketplaces.
The agency also reported at least 23 cases of rape, gang rape, or sexual abuse of children, alongside numerous abductions and recruitment of minors by armed groups.
The Sudanese army and RSF have been locked in conflict since April 2023, resulting in over 20,000 deaths and displacing 14 million people, according to UN data and local officials. However, research from US universities estimates the death toll could be as high as 130,000.
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