Violence has drastically escalated in El Fasher, North Darfur, in recent days. Hundreds of thousands of civilians and local responders who remain trapped in the city face heightened protection risks and increasingly limited access to lifesaving assistance.
Those who attempt to flee to neighbouring areas such as Tawila face perilous journeys. Civilians have reportedly been detained and attacked while attempting to flee and along routes to safe locations. Many displaced persons arriving in Tawila are dehydrated, malnourished, injured, and traumatised. The likelihood of sexual violence against women and girls remains extremely high.
Samy Guessabi, the Country Director of Action Against Hunger (ACF) Sudan, said:
“The scale of displacement, protection risks, and humanitarian needs in El Fasher and neighbouring areas is massive. All parties to the conflict must respect their obligations to protect civilians. It is imperative to secure protection and safe passage for civilians, scaled-up funding, and sustained access.”
ACF is finalising preparations to deploy two mobile health and nutrition clinics in Tawila. ACF teams are also preparing to launch activities to address the acute gender-based violence (GBV) risks faced by displaced populations, including prevention, case referral, and community engagement and awareness-raising through community-based protection networks (CBPNs).
ACF urgently calls upon the international community to urgently increase diplomatic efforts to ensure the protection of civilians remaining in El Fasher and safe passage for civilians fleeing, the protection of humanitarian responders, and sustained humanitarian access to El Fasher and surrounding areas. ACF also calls upon donors to scale up flexible funding to expand critical humanitarian operations and support local responders.