This is an unfolding situation. We describe what has been documented, by whom and when.

Sudan: since April 2023

War since April 2023

All five pressures in the war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces since April 2023, with Darfur's non-Arab communities hit hardest.

The pressures

Pushed out

HRW documented ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity against the Massalit in El Geneina, attributed attacks to the RSF and allied militias, and called for investigation of possible genocide.

Human Rights Watch, The Massalit Will Not Come Home (9 May 2024).

Written out

Reuters reported RSF fighters taking over the National Museum in June 2023, not confirmed looting at that date. UNESCO raised the alarm about looting in September 2024. After the army retook Khartoum in March 2025, antiquities officials said most of the collection had been looted or destroyed. The RSF denied harming the museum in the 2023 report.

Reuters (4 June 2023); UNESCO (12 September 2024); AFP (31 August 2025).

Squeezed out

WFP reported about 18 million people in acute food insecurity in December 2023, including about five million at emergency levels. A joint UN agency release confirmed famine in named North Darfur camps and the Western Nuba Mountains in December 2024, with 24.6 million people in IPC Phase 3 or above.

World Food Programme (13 December 2023); joint FAO, UNICEF and WFP release (24 December 2024).

Worn down

Violence against civilians and displacement created fear and trauma.

Human Rights Watch, 9 May 2024, on El Geneina.

Silenced

A PHR joint statement cited the Sudan Doctors' Trade Union reporting at least 12 health workers and health sciences students killed in the first 11 days of the war. AFP reported the doctors' union's figure of 78 health workers killed by 19 December 2024. These were different dated counts, not a combined total of people killed or displaced.

Physicians for Human Rights and partners, joint statement (26 April 2023); AFP (19 December 2024).

What people are doing

  • Emergency Response Rooms formed after the war began in April 2023 and ran community kitchens, supported water and power, and provided health care and evacuation help.
  • The volunteer networks documented attacks; Reuters reported their Rafto Prize in September 2025 and Chatham House recognised their work in November 2025.

How to help, safely

How to help safely: give through established humanitarian organisations already working there, and check their registration (in the UK, on the Charity Commission register). Share information only from named, verified sources. Never share photos, names or locations that could identify people on the ground.

Sources

Sources: HRW (9 May 2024), Reuters (4 June 2023; 17 September 2025), UNESCO (12 September 2024), WFP (13 December 2023; 24 December 2024), PHR (26 April 2023), AFP (19 December 2024; 31 August 2025) and Chatham House (21 November 2025). Unsupported leadership totals, the 90% museum figure and a claimed Arab-only statement are not used.