The deteriorating living conditions of residents of El Fasher indicate that the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has reached a critical stage, necessitating urgent intervention by the international and regional community, as well as organizations like the International Red Cross (IRC) and the World Food Program (WFP). Their priorities should be ensuring access to food and medicines for malnutrition, especially for children, and facilitating safe movement and logistics, considering the area from Khazan Jadeed as a potential new safe hub for civilians.
El Fasher, the last haven for the displaced in Darfur, has become a virtual cemetery as at least two children die each day from malnutrition since July 25, 2025. The siege of El Fasher by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which began on May 9, 2024, along with ongoing shelling and attacks on IDPs in Zamzam camp, home to around 500,000 civilians, has left a narrow corridor for civilians to escape and blocked access to humanitarian aid/relief, leaving civilians vulnerable to hunger and starvation.
Although the RSF and the Sudan Liberation Movement/Liberation Front (SLM/LF) have urged the people in El Fasher to leave the city, official North Darfur statistics report that about 926,000 people remain in the city. However, ground-based research by ACJPS indicates the actual number is closer to 740,000, as many people are fleeing daily in search of safety. Civilians who have stayed put in El Fasher are largely those most impacted financially by the war, including displaced people living in camps established in 2004. Additionally, several civilians in El Fasher have been displaced multiple times since the war broke out on April 15, 2023, and have been financially drained and unable to relocate. Others are constrained by their advanced age. Notably, the majority of the civilians who are left behind are women and children.
ACJPS researchers estimated the cost for a family of five to leave El Fasher as follows:
Movement restrictions further complicate escape, as individuals suspected of ties with Sudanese Armed Forces, the Sudan Liberation Movement / Mami Manawi, or Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) risk arbitrary arrest. Additionally, civilians can only leave with the clothes they are wearing, as other belongings such as cash, mobile phones, and gold are confiscated.
Amidst the scarcity, some individuals have taken advantage of the siege and profited from the vulnerable civilians. RSF-affiliated businessmen who have access to goods that primarily come from Libya, through Khazan Jadeed to El Fasher, and cooking oil comes from Central Darfur, have increased prices increase of these goods up to 1000%.