NEW YORK CITY: The UN on Monday urged warring military faction the Rapid Support Forces to allow civilians in Sudan to flee the besieged city of El-Fasher, and to grant safe passage for humanitarian aid. Intensified fighting has left thousands trapped in life-threatening conditions, it warned.
Denise Brown, the UN’s resident and humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, said the UN had received “multiple reports of intensification of fighting in El-Fasher” over the past 24 hours, though she could not confirm claims that the RSF had taken full control of the city.
“The RSF needs to demonstrate respect for international humanitarian law and let those people leave. Alternatively, they need to let us in,” she added.
Several hundred people arrived on Sunday near Tawila, a humanitarian hub about 50 kilometers west of El-Fasher, after a perilous journey marked by militia roadblocks and ransom demands, Brown said. Many were dehydrated, malnourished, injured and traumatized.
“Civilians remain in El-Fasher and continue to try to flee but the roads they are taking are unsafe,” she added. “Those who arrive are deeply affected not only by that journey but also by the conditions inside El-Fasher.”
The city, which has been under blockade for more than 500 days, is cut off from humanitarian assistance. Brown said the UN’s Human Rights Office has received “a multitude of reports of summary executions of unarmed men and civilians in El-Fasher,” and the intensified fighting dramatically increases the risks to those who remain trapped there.
More than 128 humanitarian workers have been killed in Sudan since the civil war began in April 2023, according to the UN. Brown said access has repeatedly been denied for aid convoys, and local humanitarian volunteers have been killed in El-Fasher in recent days.
She described the situation as “ugly,” citing patterns of sexual violence, including rape, sexual slavery and torture, largely attributed to the RSF in Darfur.
“The blockade of humanitarian assistance, and food aid in particular, is tantamount to using starvation as a weapon of war,” she added.
The UN’s response is severely hampered by funding shortfalls, Brown warned, with only 27 percent of the required amount received so far this year.
“The humanitarian response is not a solution to this situation; a political solution absolutely needs to be found,” she added.
She also expressed concern about renewed fighting in the Kordofan region, where a large UN aid convoy is attempting to reach civilians caught up in clashes around the town of Barah.
“None of this is good news,” Brown said. “The humanitarian community is doing its utmost to prevent further suffering, but we require guarantees of safe passage to do our work.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described reports of the capture of El-Fasher by the RSF as marking “a terrible escalation of the conflict.” He stressed that it was “high time for the international community to speak clearly to all countries interfering in the war and providing weapons to the warring parties,” and urge them to stop.
Stephane Dujarric, the secretary-general’s spokesperson, said Guterres believes “the problem is not only the fighting between the army and the RSF, but also the growing external interference that undermines prospects for a ceasefire and a political solution.”
