In Darfur’s final battleground, the clock is running out for an estimated 260,000 civilians, including 130,000 children, trapped in El Fasher. For more than 500 days, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have besieged the North Darfur capital, weaponizing starvation by blocking food, medicine, and humanitarian aid from entering.
According to Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab, the RSF has built more than 24 miles of earthen walls (berms) around the city to “control population flow from all directions to and from El Fasher.” These berms mean there are no safe exit routes. They are not just fortifications of war; they are tools of mass suffering, designed to strangle a civilian population into submission.
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights confirms that civilians can’t flee safely. People who have escaped describe adolescent boys and men being killed on the streets, while daily shelling inside the city makes staying nearly as deadly as leaving.
Since the siege began in May 2024, over 470,000 people have been displaced from El Fasher and nearby areas. In recent weeks, fighting has escalated sharply, along with atrocities against civilians. And yet, the world does nothing.
Condemnations and statements of concern will not save lives in El Fasher. The international community has the power and the obligation to prevent further massacres. It has been nearly a year since the UN Secretary General released his recommendations for civilian protection in Sudan. That anniversary now stands as a grim reminder of international inaction.
What is urgently needed:
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Safe and voluntary evacuation routes. Civilians must be able to leave El Fasher safely, with guarantees of protection under UN Security Council Resolution 2736. Violations must carry real accountability.
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An evacuation coordinator. A lead agency with operational capacity and a presence on the ground must oversee logistics, communication, and en route safety, in coordination with UN agencies, the ICRC, humanitarian groups, authorities, and community representatives.
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Monitored humanitarian access. Safe corridors into and out of El Fasher must be established, with satellite imagery and UAV surveillance used to report daily on their status.
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Lifesaving humanitarian aid. With 35 hospitals already destroyed by RSF attacks, famine spreading, and the deadliest cholera outbreak in years claiming at least 350 lives, civilians in El Fasher desperately need water, food, medicine, and medical care. Many cannot evacuate because they are too weak, sick, elderly, disabled, or injured.
The use of starvation, siege, and indiscriminate violence against civilians is not just a war crime; it is a moral outrage. The world has stood by while El Fasher has been slowly strangled. Every minute of inaction costs lives.
At this moment, when atrocity risk is at its peak, international actors must move beyond words. Humanitarian access, safe passage, and protection of civilians are not optional; they are obligations under international law.
The people of El Fasher cannot wait another day. Action must be taken now to save lives.
Here are two actions we all can take today:
