Merve Aydogan
30 April 2025•Update: 30 April 2025
HAMILTON, Canada
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed alarm Wednesday about the "increasingly catastrophic" situation in Sudan's North Darfur, as deadly violence and mass displacement grip the region.
"The Secretary-General is appalled by the increasingly catastrophic situation in Sudan's North Darfur State, as deadly attacks continue on its capital, Al Fasher, which come just two weeks after an assault on the famine-stricken Zamzam and Abu Shouk displacement camps which reportedly killed hundreds of civilians, including humanitarian workers," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
An estimated 400,000 people have been forced to flee the Zamzam camp earlier this month, said the statement, and the UN chief is "deeply concerned by reports of harassment, intimidation and arbitrary detention of displaced people at checkpoints."
Despite widespread insecurity and funding shortages, UN agencies and humanitarian partners are working to "urgently scale up emergency support in the Tawila area," which hosts the majority of those who have been displaced.
"The scale of needs is overwhelming," said Guterres, as "desperate people – mostly women and children – crossing the border into Chad in search of safety and assistance."
With the crisis entering its third year and destabilizing the broader region, Guterres renewed calls for "safe and unhindered humanitarian access" and stressed that "perpetrators of serious violations must be held accountable."
He urged the international community to act swiftly to help end the "relentless suffering and destruction."
El-Fasher has seen deadly clashes between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since last May, despite international warnings about the repercussions of fighting in the city, which serves as a hub for humanitarian operations in all five Darfur states.
Earlier this month, the RSF claimed to have seized control of the Zamzam refugee camp in the city after clashes with the arm.
At least 400 civilians were killed, and nearly 400,000 displaced from the fighting, according to UN figures.
Since April 15, 2023, the RSF has been battling the army for control of Sudan, resulting in thousands of deaths and creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
More than 20,000 victims have been killed, and 15 million displaced, according to the UN and local authorities.
Research from US scholars, however, estimates the death toll at around 130,000.
