Why is the Collapse of el-Fasher So Significant for the Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan?

Image - Lara Jameson

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On the 26th of October 2025, the city of el-Fasher in Sudan collapsed to the powers of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces led by Hemedti. Throughout the civil war there has been a blatant disregard for civilian life and has plummeted the country into the worst humanitarian crisis in the world - the fall of el-Fasher poses great risk to life in the region.

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There are two main groups involved in the Sudanese conflict, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Muhammad Dagalo, also known as Hemedti.

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Many years ago, al-Burhan and Hemedti had worked in cooperation in a joint military-civilian government following the removal of the President, Omar al-Bashir, who had been accused of a range of crimes against humanity and had pushed the country into economic crisis. However in 2023, tensions between the RSF and the SAF for who held the most control reached boiling point. A thirst for power pushed Sudan from a dictatorship to a civil war and a full humanitarian crisis.

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In the past few months the RSF have been making significant territory gains, particularly focusing on the resource-rich area of Darfur. The United Arab Emirates is highly dependent on Sudan for its gold imports, it is believed that in exchange the UAE has been providing weaponry to the RSF. Support from the UAE makes this conflict significantly more deadly; the civil war of an unstable country facing a humanitarian crisis is being propped up by one of the wealthiest nations in the world. 

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Throughout the conflict, millions have been displaced into el-Fasher and their movements constricted by a 35 mile sand barrier. Not only does this barrier stop civilians from leaving, it has also prevented any sort of aid from entering the el-Fasher region.The Global Report on Food Crises has confirmed Sudan to be facing the first famine since 2020, with 25.6 million people facing high levels of acute food insecurity with the main cause being identified as conflict. Civilians have reportedly resorted to consuming animal feed in order to survive. The report has also identified Sudan as having the most severe nutrition crisis in the world, with 3.66 million children being acutely malnourished. Around the same time that famine was confirmed in Sudan, it was predicted that Gaza would also face one however it was reverted in Palestine due to international action. It is clear to see where the consensus that the world has failed Sudan has come from. Sudan falling into a fully established famine could have been prevented if global powers were more involved in bringing about peace and aid. 

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Where have the global powers been while this crisis has been unfolding? The UK has been providing substantial financial aid to Sudan since 2019, this is mainly done through the Sudan Humanitarian Preparedness and Response (SHPR) Programme. However, a few months ago an atrocity prevention plan was put forward to the UK government on the basis of intelligence warnings that El-Fasher could fall to the RSF and could be vulnerable to ethnic cleansing - this plan was rejected. Instead the government chose the ‘least ambitious’ protection plan according to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). 

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In September this year, a joint statement was published by the US government and the Quad (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE) setting out 5 shared principles regarding the end of the conflict; some key notes from this statement include that there is no ‘viable military solution’, a three month truce in order to move humanitarian aid into the country, and an end to external military support. 

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Why is this region so significant for the conflict in Sudan? El-Fasher was the final stronghold for the Sudanese Armed Forces, this territory gain for the RSF in Darfur has effectively partitioned the country with the SAF maintaining control of the East. Partition, as seen in India and Pakistan, often results in large scale internal forced displacement and violence which is hard to amend due to the political instability that comes with division. While the hopes of an imminent peace agreement were slim, they are made even more of an aspiration now that there is effectively a partition. 

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What are the RSF actually doing in the region? Details are sparse due to a communication blackout, however satellite images have been used to analyse the area, particularly the ground surrounding hospitals that are no longer operational. Piles of bodies are seen to be growing rapidly day by day. There have been reports from inside El-Fasher of children being killed in drone strikes. Violence has been rapidly increasing around a starving and neglected population, there has been video evidence confirmed by Al Jazeera’s verification agency of RSF soldiers executing and torturing those held in the region.  Acts of genocide are not unheard of for the RSF; the Janjaweed, as it was formerly known, were believed that have killed over 200,000 non-arabs in the early 2000s while supported from the government. This conflict is not a new phenomenon, its roots are deeply embedded in the country’s past and concerns that were raised had essentially fallen on deaf ears. There is a very genuine fear amongst the Sudanese people that history will repeat itself. 

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The significance of the fall of El-Fasher is multifaceted. It has resurfaced fears of genocide in Sudan against the Non-Arab population. Death is ever-present in the Darfur region as a result of either famine or violence attacks, and likely a cumulation of the two. The Sudanese humanitarian crisis is not getting the media representation it so desperately needs, however there are a variety of charities that accept donations to send aid to the region.