International organizations warn of an imminent humanitarian disaster in El Fasher.

October 3, 2025 (Pen) Ninety-three civil society and humanitarian organizations warned that "time is running out" for some 260,000 civilians, including 130,000 children, who remain trapped in El Fasher, Darfur.

In a joint statement, the organizations stated that the Rapid Support Forces have been imposing a siege on the capital of North Darfur for more than 500 days, using starvation as a "weapon of war by preventing the entry of food and humanitarian aid."

The Rapid Support Forces also erected more than 38 kilometers of earthen barricades to isolate the city and control the movement of residents in and out of it, according to the Humanities Research Laboratory at Yale University.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights confirmed that "there are no safe routes out of El Fasher," while the statement noted that the ongoing siege prevents the entry of food and medicine and hinders the escape of civilians, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.

The statement explained that more than 470,000 people have been displaced from El Fasher and surrounding areas since May 2024, noting that fighting has escalated sharply in recent weeks, with atrocities being committed against civilians. Witnesses reported that "men and boys are being killed on the roads, and that leaving El Fasher has become more dangerous than remaining there, despite the daily bombardment."

In the statement, the organizations called for the provision of safe and voluntary humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians, and the implementation of an urgent plan to deliver life-saving aid in accordance with international humanitarian law.

She also stressed the need for the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and regional and international diplomatic missions to assume responsibility for supervising the process.

The statement also warned that the continued blockade threatens widespread famine and the spread of a cholera epidemic, which has already killed at least 350 people in Darfur, with 35 hospitals in the region targeted since the beginning of the blockade.