NEW YORK: UN independent human rights experts on Thursday called on the international community to combat what they described as alarming levels of trafficking, sexual violence, and child recruitment in and around El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.
The experts said they were deeply troubled by mounting evidence of abuses following the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces’ takeover of the city and surrounding areas.
Specialists included Siobhan Mullally, the UN special rapporteur on trafficking in persons; Tomoya Obokata, the special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery; Mama Fatima Singhateh, the special rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children; and Paula Gaviria, the special rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons.
“We are deeply concerned at the alarming reports of human trafficking since the takeover of El-Fasher and surrounding areas by the Rapid Support Forces,” the experts said in a joint statement.
“Women and girls have been abducted in RSF-controlled areas, and women, unaccompanied and separated children are at elevated risk of sexual violence and sexual exploitation.”
RSF’s siege of El-Fasher, which began in May 2024, has displaced more than 470,000 people multiple times, including residents of the Shagra, Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps.
Across Sudan, over 6 million children — 27 percent of them under five — are internally displaced or seeking protection in neighboring countries, the experts said. Sexual violence has been reported throughout conflict zones, including Bahri, Gezira, Khartoum, Kordofan, Kornoi, Nyala, Omdurman, and Zamzam.
The statement cited multiple incidents of rape and other abuses. In June 2025, girls aged 15-17 were reportedly raped near an RSF checkpoint between Shagra and Tawilah while fleeing El-Fasher.
Twenty-five women were allegedly raped at gunpoint in a shelter for displaced people near El-Fasher University, and forced nudity has been documented at checkpoints.
“Internally displaced women and girls are among those trafficked for sexual slavery and other forms of sexual exploitation. Recruitment and use of children by armed groups is also on the rise,” the experts said.
They added that “there is overwhelming evidence that women and children belonging to non-Arab communities in North Darfur, including the Zaghawa and the Fur, have been ethnically targeted and raped.”
Reports also indicated “a pattern of arbitrary detention and forced marriage of women and children for sexual exploitation,” they said, adding: “The exercise of ownership over victims in these contexts is indicative of sexual slavery.”
“Families are left without shelters, healthcare, education, or basic safety, while blocked aid and collapsing services are pushing them to the brink,” the experts warned. “We call for urgent action to end the human rights violations driving this suffering and to ensure displaced communities receive the protection and assistance they desperately need.”
They called for an end to abuses against civilians. “All parties to the conflict must respect human rights and prevent further atrocities against civilians, including the trafficking of women and children,” they said, adding that sexual slavery, sexual exploitation and the recruitment of children for any form of exploitation “constitute trafficking and are serious violations of international law.”
Special rapporteurs are independent human rights specialists appointed by the UN Human Rights Council. They work on a voluntary basis, are not UN staff, and do not receive a salary.
