Tens of thousands of people disappeared in Sudan after the capture of El Fasher, UN calls for investigation
Kyiv • UNN
The UN refugee agency reported tens of thousands missing after the capture of El Fasher in Darfur. 10,236 new displaced persons were registered between November 9 and 12, bringing the total to 99,128.
Since the capture of El Fasher, Darfur, by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) military formations, tens of thousands of people are considered missing, the UN Refugee Agency reported on Friday, according to Reuters, Anadolu Ajansı, and UNN.
Details
Since the city's capture by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), tens of thousands of people who fled the Sudanese city of El Fasher are considered missing. The UN Refugee Agency expressed concern for their safety following reports of rape, killings, and other abuses by the fleeing individuals.
In its statement, the UN agency reported that its displacement tracking system recorded 10,236 new people who fled the city between November 9 and 12, bringing the total number of displaced persons to 99,128.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) emphasized that these figures remain preliminary, as the situation remains unstable and displacement is accelerating due to continued instability.
People fleeing the city report civilians being shot in the streets and attacked by drones. Field reports from Darfur describe women gathering wild leaves and berries to make soup.
Jacqueline Wilma Parlevliet, head of the UNHCR office in Port Sudan, confirmed that only about 10,000 people had been registered at arrival points such as Tawila.
She said the following:
A significant number of people on the move are stuck somewhere, unable to move further due to danger, the risk of being sent back to Al-Fashir, or because there are very vulnerable people among them.
One of the most devastating conflicts in modern Africa
The famine-stricken city of El Fasher was the last stronghold of the Sudanese army in the vast western region of Darfur before it fell to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on October 26, after an 18-month siege.
The RSF now controls all five states of Darfur, while the army retains control over most of the country's 13 other states, including Khartoum.
The bloody conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has claimed at least 40,000 lives and left nearly 12 million people homeless, according to the World Health Organization.
Recall
Marco Rubio called on the world to stop supplying weapons to Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, accused of mass killings.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan have accepted the US and Arab states' proposal for a humanitarian ceasefire and are ready for negotiations.
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