The UN Chief for Human Rights has condemned the spiraling violence in Sudan’s North Darfur region, as a senior humanitarian official starkly described the deteriorating situation as a “hell on earth”, painting a dire picture of the crisis.
Tens of thousands of displaced individuals are seeking refuge in el-Fasher, lacking essential necessities, as concerns mount that nearby clashes will escalate into a full-scale battle for control of the city, which is the final bastion of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in the western Darfur region.
Toby Harward, the UN’s deputy humanitarian coordinator for Sudan in an interview, quoted those in el-Fasher as describing the situation as “like hell on Earth, where they could lose their lives at any day”.
“There is active conflict going on, artillery attacks by the Rapid Support Forces as well as air bombardments by the Sudanese Armed Forces that are leading to new displacements,” he said on Friday. “People are trying to flee, to get to safer areas but are finding them very, very hard to do.” he added.
Harward gave an estimate that around 1,000 individuals are crossing the border from Darfur into Chad every day, seeking refuge and fleeing the violence and instability in the region.
“When they are asked why they are crossing, they say that they do not have food to survive if they remain inside Darfur,” he said.
In the meantime, Jens Laerke, the spokesperson for the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), highlighted that as of Friday, only a fraction of the necessary funds — just 12% of the $2.7 billion target have been secured for Sudan, leaving a significant shortfall in humanitarian funding.
“It is a catastrophically underfunded appeal,” Laerke told reporters.
“In Sudan, half of the population, 25 million people, need humanitarian aid. Famine is closing in. Diseases are closing in. The fighting is closing in on civilians, especially in Darfur.”
Since the war broke out in April 2023, more than 8.8 million people have been forced to flee their homes across the country. The international community has imposed sanctions on some individuals and groups involved in the conflict.
