Sudan Crisis Intensifies: UN Rights Chief Appeals for Protection of Civilians in El Fasher

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has made an urgent appeal for greater protection of civilians in El Fasher, North Darfur, as the Sudan conflict reaches a critical point. More than 500 civilians have been killed in North Darfur as violence continues to escalate in the besieged city.

El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, remains the only area not under RSF control but has been under siege for months. The situation has become increasingly dire with civilians caught in the crossfire between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

UN Rights Chief Volker Türk expressed grave concern about the rising civilian deaths and widespread sexual violence in North Darfur. "Civilians must be allowed safely to leave El Fasher and surrounding areas and must be protected wherever they go," Türk stated in late April.

The UN Fact-Finding Mission has recently obtained first-hand accounts of atrocities committed in El Fasher and surrounding areas, warning that the "darkest chapters" of the conflict may lie ahead as the violence enters its third year.

In January 2025, a drone strike, allegedly carried out by the RSF, targeted the last functioning hospital in El Fasher, killing at least 70 people and further crippling access to medical care in the region.

The Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom also issued a statement on April 24, 2025, emphasizing that "There are no exceptions to the laws of war" and that both the SAF and RSF had agreed at Jeddah to protect civilians.

The United States has imposed sanctions on General Burhan and General Hemedti, the leaders of the opposing forces, and has concluded that members of the RSF and allied militias have committed genocide in Sudan.

Civilians in Darfur, particularly non-Arab communities, are at severe risk of ethnic cleansing and genocide given the region's genocidal history, entrenched impunity for past crimes, and ongoing ethnically charged violence.