In the heart of Sudan, a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding with a speed and severity that has stunned even seasoned aid workers. The city of El-Fasher in North Darfur and the town of Kadugli in South Kordofan have now been declared famine zones, according to reports released on November 3, 2025, by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)—the world’s leading authority on hunger crises. This grim milestone comes as the country’s civil war, which erupted on April 15, 2023, continues to wreak havoc, driving millions from their homes and leaving entire communities teetering on the edge of survival.
For those who managed to escape the violence, the journey has been nothing short of harrowing. As reported by Anadolu Ajansi and Bernama, hundreds of displaced civilians arrived in the city of Al-Dabba in Sudan’s Northern State after traveling more than 1,200 kilometers from El-Fasher. Many of these individuals walked vast distances, enduring unimaginable hardship—some without food, water, or shelter—before reaching what they hoped would be safety. Local media estimate that approximately 62,000 people fled El-Fasher after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized control of the city in late October 2025. These desperate families headed toward Kurma, Tawila, and Garni in North Darfur, yet thousands remain stranded along the way, cut off from transport or aid.
The situation inside El-Fasher is even more dire. For 18 months, the city had been under siege by the RSF, which blocked the entry of food and other essential supplies, leaving tens of thousands trapped. Last week, RSF fighters overran the city, reportedly unleashing attacks that killed hundreds—though the true extent of the violence remains unclear due to disrupted communications. According to the IPC, El-Fasher and Kadugli have experienced "a total collapse of livelihoods, starvation, extremely high levels of malnutrition and death." The organization’s criteria for declaring famine are as stark as they are sobering: deaths from malnutrition-related causes must reach at least two people, or four children under five, per 10,000; one in five households must face starvation; and at least 30% of children under five must suffer from acute malnutrition. In both El-Fasher and Kadugli, these thresholds have been met or exceeded.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has sounded the alarm, calling on the RSF and its allied armed groups to immediately allow civilians to leave El-Fasher. "We urgently call on the RSF and allied armed groups to spare civilians and let them flee El-Fasher," said Michel Olivier Lacharite, MSF’s head of emergencies, in a statement published on November 2, 2025. He also urged the QUAD countries—the US, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt—to use their influence "to stop the bloodbath" in the city. The international medical group warned that the world "cannot look away" as the crisis deepens in Sudan, emphasizing that the international community has a moral responsibility to intervene.
The numbers paint a devastating picture. Since the outbreak of war in April 2023, more than 40,000 people have been killed, according to United Nations figures, though aid groups suggest the real toll could be much higher. The conflict has displaced over 15 million people, making it the world’s largest humanitarian disaster in recent memory. As of September 2025, the IPC estimated that about 375,000 people had been pushed into famine in Darfur and Kordofan, while a staggering 6.3 million across Sudan face extreme hunger. Acute food insecurity affects over 21 million Sudanese—nearly half the population—with disease outbreaks compounding the misery. The IPC’s latest report warns that towns near El-Fasher, including Tawila, Melit, and Tawisha, are at immediate risk of famine as fighting intensifies.
In the midst of this chaos, the Sudanese diaspora is striving to draw the world’s attention to the unfolding tragedy. On November 2, 2025, Sudanese nationals and supporters gathered in Istanbul’s Beyazit Square to protest the humanitarian crisis and atrocities in El-Fasher. Organized by the Sudanese Students Association and the General Union of Sudanese Students, the rally condemned the violence, forced displacement, looting, and systematic destruction of infrastructure in Darfur and western Sudan. Speakers at the event expressed support for the Sudanese Armed Forces, denouncing the RSF as responsible for massacres and calling for the group to be designated a terrorist organization. Nagi El-Kershabi, a spokesperson for the Sudanese community, thanked Turkish officials and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for their cooperation, and voiced hope for a just resolution: "Justice will prevail and Sudan will emerge stronger from this ordeal."
Yet, frustration over the lack of international attention was palpable. Rally participant Maha Bakhit criticized the limited media coverage, warning, "There are horrors in El-Fasher like those of Judgment Day." She argued that the conflict is not merely an internal matter but "a systematic aggression against the Sudanese state, its people, and its institutions." The International Association of Lawyers echoed these concerns, urging the United Nations and human-rights groups to act, describing the violations as war crimes that demand accountability.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, for its part, has strongly condemned the attacks on civilians in El-Fasher, expressing deep concern over the latest developments. Ankara has pledged to closely monitor the situation and has voiced support for the Arab League’s statement on the crisis, signaling a growing chorus of international condemnation.
The roots of Sudan’s catastrophe are tangled in a brutal power struggle between the Sudanese military and the RSF. After the military retook the capital, Khartoum, earlier this year, the RSF shifted its focus to Darfur and Kordofan, seeking to secure supply lines and expand its territorial control. The resulting siege tactics have left cities like El-Fasher and Kadugli isolated, starving, and exposed to relentless violence. In Kadugli, Save the Children reported in September that food supplies had run out entirely, with fighting escalating and tens of thousands trapped. The IPC noted that another Kordofan town, Dilling, has experienced similar conditions, but a lack of data has so far prevented a formal famine declaration.
While some areas have seen a slight reprieve—such as Khartoum and Gezira, where the military’s regain of control allowed more than a million displaced people to return home—most of Sudan remains gripped by acute food insecurity and violence. The IPC’s call is unambiguous: only a ceasefire "can prevent further loss of life and help contain the extreme levels of acute food insecurity and acute malnutrition."
As the world watches, the fate of millions hangs in the balance. The international community faces a stark choice: intervene meaningfully to halt Sudan’s slide into catastrophe, or risk becoming complicit through inaction as famine and violence consume a nation in crisis.
