El Fasher, a city in Darfur, was once home to 1.5 million people…it’s now at the epicenter of Sudan’s humanitarian catastrophe. Last week, Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary force that is fighting the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), claimed control over parts of the city, trapping 260,000 people with nowhere to run and no access to food or medical care.
Families are trapped as the RSF carry out house-to-house killings, sexual violence, and other brutal attacks.  The sand in and around the city is so coated in blood that evidence of the RSF’s attacks can be seen from satellite imagery, according to Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab.
What’s happening in Sudan right now is almost too horrific to put into words.
Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed. More than 12 million people have been forced to flee their homes. And half of all children in Sudan, over 14 million, now need humanitarian aid just to survive.  It is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis today.
This is an inconceivable tragedy — and yet, it was not unforeseen. For months, even years, the world knew this was coming. Amnesty International and others sounded the alarm. But leaders have failed again and again to act decisively to stop it.
Now, civilians are paying the price. That’s why we’re asking you to act right now.
Urge your lawmakers to do these 3 things immediately:
- Enforce the existing arms embargo on Darfur to stop the flow of deadly weapons into the country.
- Demand an immediate end to RSF attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure.
- Use all available tools to push the RSF to allow humanitarian access and safe passage for civilians fleeing the violence.
The ongoing conflict in Sudan began in April 2023, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing over 12 million. Last week, the RSF claimed that it had taken control of parts of El Fasher, the last major city in Darfur under SAF control. On October 27, SAF announced it had withdrawn its forces from the city.
Since the conflict began, Amnesty has carried out numerous research missions, documenting and publishing reports to expose and shed light on ongoing violations.
We’ve confirmed that the flow of deadly weapons into Sudan is fueling this nightmare, empowering the RSF to commit ethnically targeted killings, widespread sexual violence, and mass displacement. Every day that passes without action costs more lives.
Sudan’s civilians are trapped in an unimaginable nightmare. But there is something we can do to help stop it. The U.S. can use its influence to help stop the bloodshed and protect Sudan’s civilians.