SIHMA

Researching Human Migration across Africa

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27 Jan

Sexual Violence Against Refugees in Sudan’s El Fasher

The conflict in Sudan’s North Darfur region has spiralled into one of the most devastating humanitarian crises in recent years. In El Fasher, relentless violence has uprooted tens of thousands of civilians. Survivor’s testimonies reveal patterns of targeted brutality, underscoring the deliberate dismantling of civilian life and the erosion of basic human dignity.

 

The conflict in Sudan, particularly in North Darfur’s capital El Fasher, has triggered a severe humanitarian catastrophe marked by mass displacement, famine and widespread atrocities against civilians, especially women and girls. For more than two  years under attack, reports indicate that sexual violence, executions and the destruction of hospitals, have forced out a population of about 89 000 people with little to no humanitarian support. According to UN officials, rape is being systematically used as a weapon of war, while starvation, sanitation, lack of medical care and the collapse of basic needs keeps on growing (United Nations, 2025).

 

Amnesty International’s interviews with 28 survivors reveal patterns of deliberate targeting. Survivors who fled El Fasher in Sudan have told Amnesty International that Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters have committed atrocities during and after capturing the city in late October, with civilians deliberately targeted during escape attempts. Based on these interviews, Amnesty reports that unarmed men were shot or beaten to death, women and girls were raped, and bodies were left in the streets.  Fighters reportedly told civilians, “In El fasher, there are no civilians, everybody is a soldier”. One survivor said “The RSF were killing people as if they were flies. It is a massacre”, while another described fighter executing elderly men and laughing saying “They were enjoying it”.  These accounts highlight the severity of the situation in Sudan is and urges international action, accountability through the ICC and an end to arms transfers and external support fuelling the conflict (Amnesty International, 2025).

 

Between January 2024 and March 2025, the doctors without border (MSF) provided care to about 659 survivors of sexual violence in south Darfur, of whom 86% reported rape and 94% were women and girls; 56% said the perpetrator was a non-civilian, including armed groups or security forces and 55% experienced additional physical violence during the assault. Children made up 31% of survivors with 7% under the age of 10 and 2.6% under the age of 5, while 34% were assaulted while working in or travelling to farm fields (MSF, 2025).

 

The crisis in El Fasher is not only a humanitarian emergency but a stark reminder of how conflict weaponises vulnerability. Testimonies from survivors and data from humanitarian organisation reveals patterns of abuse, that cannot be dismissed as isolated incidents. As displacement deepens and basic needs and services collapse, the international community faces a moral imperative to pursue accountability through mechanisms such as international court and to restore humanitarian access for those trapped in cycles of violence.

 

References

Amnesty International. (2025, November 25 ). Sudan: El Fasher survivors tell of deliberate RSF killings and sexual violence – new testimony. Retrieved from Amnesty International: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/11/sudan-el-fasher-survivors-tell-of-deliberate-rsf-killings-and-sexual-violence-new-testimony/

MSF. (2025, May 28 ). Sexual violence in Sudan: “They beat us and they raped us right there on the road in public”. Retrieved from MSF: https://www.msf.org/people-who-escaped-el-fasher-are-struggling-survive-one-month-after-rsf-takeover

United Nations. (2025, November 11). Sudan war: Women endure starvation, rape and bombs fleeing El Fasher. Retrieved from United Nations: https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/11/1166327

 

 

 

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