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Darfur genocide (2023–present)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For events that specifically targeted the Masalit people, see Masalit genocide. For the genocidal massacre in October 2025, see El Fasher massacre.
Not to be confused with Darfur genocide (2003–2005).

Second Darfur genocide
Part of war crimes during the Sudanese civil war
The Darfur region of Sudan
LocationDarfur, Sudan
Date15 April 2023 – present
TargetMasalit, Fur, Zaghawa, Berti, Tama and Erenga people
Attack type
Genocide,[1][2][3] mass killing, ethnic cleansing, scorched earth, starvation, mass looting, mass rape, genocidal rape
Deaths
Perpetrator
MotiveTribalism[8]
Arab Supremacy[9]

The Darfur genocide,[10] also known as the second Darfur genocide,[11][12][13] is an ongoing series of persecutions and mass killings of non-Arabs in Darfur carried out by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its allies during the Sudanese civil war.[14] The genocidal campaign started on 15 April 2023 in conjunction with civil war between the RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The RSF and allied militias began committing organized massacres of non-Arab civilians in all states of Darfur, with the largest occurring throughout 2023 against the Masalit people in the area of Geneina, West Darfur.[15] The genocide has been recognized by Genocide Watch,[16] the government of the United States, and the American academic Eric Reeves.[17][18][14]

Background

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Darfur is a multicultural region in western Sudan, with most of the residents living in the region being Black Africans, although it also is home to many Baggara Arabs, who make up the core of the Rapid Support Forces and Janjaweed. Tensions have existed for years between ethnicities in the region.[19][20]

Darfur was the location of another genocide between 2003 and 2005. During the 2003 genocide, an estimated 200,000 civilians died from violence related to the conflict. Most victims of this previous genocide were members of the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa communities.[21]

On 15 April 2023, a civil war began in Sudan between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese army. As many as 400,000 people have been killed as a result of the conflict and 11 million have been displaced.[22] The RSF itself was formed in 2013 from parts of the Janjaweed militia, who was responsible for the 2003 genocide.[23]

Events

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Masalit genocide (2023)

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Main article: Masalit genocide

Initial massacres targeted mainly Masalit communities in West Darfur between April and November 2023.[14] In April 2023 all hospitals in Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, were rendered nonoperational due to the conflict, with many having reportedly been looted by RSF and allied militias after its capture.[24] In the predominantly Masalit town of Misterei, at least 40 people were massacred by RSF fighters in early May 2023.[25][26] Six other towns in West Darfur were also burned and destroyed.[26] The governor of West Darfur, Khamis Abakar, was abducted and killed after accusing the RSF of genocide in Darfur.[27]

By June 2023, over 20 neighbourhoods and all 86 shelters for the displaced in Geneina were destroyed, the city's market was also thoroughly looted and torched.[28] Summary executions were reported in the Geneina area in June.[29] Over 15,000 civilians were killed in the Geneina massacre in June, with several hundred more being killed in similar massacres in Misterei, Sirba, Konga Haraza, Tendelti and Murnei, among other villages.[14] Hundreds of thousands of Masalit civilians were displaced into Chad.[15] In November, thousands of non-Arab civilians (mostly Masalit, Tama and Erenga), as well as SAF prisoners were massacred by the RSF in Ardamata. The Masalit genocide was spearheaded by the RSF, but many non-RSF Janjaweed groups, as well as Arab tribal militias also took part in the killings.[14]

Also subject to ethnically driven massacres by the RSF and allied groups are other areas in Darfur and parts of the region of Kordofan, including villages around Tawila and Kutum in North Darfur and rural areas in other Darfuri states.[30][31][32]

El Fasher siege and other developments (2024-2025)

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Main article: El Fasher massacre

In May 2024 the RSF tightened its siege of El Fasher, which was home to hundreds of thousands of non-Arab refugees. In April 2025, the Abu Shouk and Zamzam refugee camps outside of the city were attacked several times by the RSF and allied Arab militias, killing hundreds of people between April and August. In the aftermath of the fall of El Fasher to the RSF in October, tens of thousands of people, mostly non-Arab civilians (particularly the Zaghawa), were killed in the El Fasher massacre.[33][34] 500,000 people have fled El Fasher since the city fell to the RSF. Many RSF fighters were reported to be using Chinese-made drones to accelerate the speed of killings near the city.[35] An estimated 200,000 civilians were trapped in El Fasher at the time of its capture, with many believed to have been systematically killed.[36]

Casualties

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The death toll remains unclear. In 2023, an estimated 15,000 were killed during the Battle of Geneina and 2,000 internally displaced persons were killed in the Ardamata massacre.[37] Following the capture of El Fasher in October 2025, the fate of an estimated 150,000 residents who remained in the city is unknown; British MPs were briefed that 60,000 killed is the low estimate for El Fasher alone.[4]

In November 2025, a communications blackout in El Fasher was still limiting information.[38] The Yale HRL estimated that the figures of those killed are "undercounted"[39] and Sky News said that analysts estimate "tens of thousands" of individuals killed.[40] Kholood Khair of the Khartoum-based Confluence Advisory think-tank estimated that 100,000 people were killed in the "genocidal violence" but noted that there were no official figures due to the lack of governance in the region.[41]

Responses

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The massacres committed against the Masalit were recognized as a genocide by Genocide Watch[16] and by Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights.[3] On 6 December 2023, the US government said that "RSF and their allied militias committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing in Darfur."[21] The US government said in January 2025 that it determined the RSF committed genocide in Darfur.[42] Eric Reeves, a US academic who has researched Sudan, described the RSF 2023 campaign against Masalit and the capture of El Fasher in 2025 as genocidal.[17][18] According to the Sudan researcher Shayna Lewis the RSF have a systematic policy of genocide.[43]

According to the Yale University Humanitarian Research Lab, the actions of RSF in El Fasher in 2025 "may be consistent with war crimes and crimes against humanity and may rise to the level of genocide".[44]

In 2026, a United Nations fact-finding mission to Sudan found that the RSF's campaign of violence against non-Arab minorities "presents indications pointing to genocide".[45]

International Court of Justice

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On March 6, 2025, the Sudanese government filed a case against the United Arab Emirates at the International Court of Justice accusing the United Arab Emirates of violating the Genocide Convention and being complicit in genocide and other crimes committed by the RSF on the Masalit.[46][47] Sudan accused the UAE of enabling the RSF's attacks on Masalit communities by providing them with political, military and financial support, and asked the court to halt the UAE's supply of arms to the militia.[48] The UAE denied the accusations.[49] In an official statement, the UAE described the case as "a cynical publicity stunt".[46] On 5 May 2025 the ICJ rejected the case, stating that it "manifestly lacked" jurisdiction to rule on the merits because the UAE had rejected its jurisdiction despite signing the Genocide Convention.[50]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Watch, Genocide (8 October 2024). "Genocide in Sudan". Genocide Watch. Archived from the original on 17 July 2025. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  2. ^ "Sudan's Civilians Deserve Better". Council on Foreign Relations. Archived from the original on 14 June 2025. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  3. ^ a b Assaly, Jeremy (14 April 2024). "Breaches of the Genocide Convention in Darfur, Sudan (April 2023—April 2024): An Independent Inquiry". Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  4. ^ a b c Townsend, Mark (5 December 2025). "RSF massacres left Sudanese city 'a slaughterhouse', satellite images show". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  5. ^ Nichols, Michelle (20 January 2024). "Ethnic killings in one Sudan city left up to 15,000 dead, UN report says". Reuters. Archived from the original on 27 March 2024. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  6. ^ "وفاة أكثر من 500 ألف طفل في السودان جراء سوء التغذية" [More than 500,000 children die in Sudan due to malnutrition]. Sudan Tribune (in Arabic). Retrieved 20 January 2025. وأضافت أن إقليم دارفور شهد وفاة 45 ألف طفل بسبب سوء التغذية
  7. ^ "Mass killings and famine grip Darfur as history threatens to repeat itself". NPR. 4 November 2025. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
  8. ^ "3.2. Individuals fearing forced recruitment by the RSF | European Union Agency for Asylum". www.euaa.europa.eu. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  9. ^ Salih, Zeinab Mohammed (10 January 2025). "'If you are black, you are finished': the ethnically targeted violence raging in Sudan". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 16 August 2025. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  10. ^ "US says Sudan's RSF committed 'genocide' in Darfur, sanctions leader". Le Monde. 7 January 2025. Archived from the original on 14 January 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  11. ^ "Unchecked, Sudan's war could trigger another genocide against Darfurians". ISS Africa. Archived from the original on 3 December 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  12. ^ Hughes, Susan A. (4 December 2025). "Harvard Kennedy School panel warns of escalating atrocities in Sudan as a second genocide unfolds". Harvard Kennedy School. Retrieved 5 December 2025.
  13. ^ The Sundial Press (16 December 2023). "Sudan's Silent Massacre: The Second Darfur Genocide". Retrieved 5 December 2025.
  14. ^ a b c d e Gallopin, Jean-Baptiste (9 May 2024). "The Massalit Will Not Come Home" (Report). Human Rights Watch. Archived from the original on 28 September 2025.
  15. ^ a b Michael, Maggie (28 December 2023). "The Sudanese commanders waging war on the Masalit". Reuters. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  16. ^ a b "Sudan Genocide Emergency – October 2023" (PDF). Genocide Watch. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 April 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  17. ^ a b "Sudan's war passed 6 months, with much of the world consumed by other conflicts". NPR. 21 October 2023. Archived from the original on 8 November 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  18. ^ a b Eric Reeves (16 November 2025), Update from project Zamzam, November 16, 2025, Wikidata Q136823520{{citation}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  19. ^ "Quick guide: Darfur". BBC News. 6 September 2006. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  20. ^ de Waal, Alex. "Who are the Darfurians? Arab and African Identities, Violence and External Engagement". Items: Insights from the Social Sciences. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  21. ^ a b "Darfur". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 14 February 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  22. ^ Action, the Center for Preventive. "Civil War in Sudan". Global Conflict Tracker. Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  23. ^ Schneid, Rebecca; Hall, Richard. "Fears of new genocide as Darfur burns again". Time.
  24. ^ Alkhaldi, Celine; Formanek, Ingrid; Tawfeeq, Mohammed; Regan, Helen (28 April 2023). "Clashes renew in West Darfur as food and water shortages worsen in Sudan violence". CNN. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  25. ^ Magdy, Samy. "Rights group urges probe into Darfur atrocities by Sudanese paramilitary forces battling the army". ABC News. Archived from the original on 12 July 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  26. ^ a b "A Town Destroyed". Human Rights Watch. 11 July 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  27. ^ "West Darfur governor abducted, killed as war in Sudan spreads". Al Jazeera. 15 June 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  28. ^ Camille (20 June 2023). "More than 5,000 reportedly killed in El Geneina 'genocide'". Dabanga Radio TV Online. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  29. ^ "SITUATION REPORT - HORN OF AFRICA No. 457 - 26 June 2023" (PDF). EEPA. 26 June 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  30. ^ "The Kutum massacre". Lighthouse Reports. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  31. ^ "How Dafuris displaced by past conflict are coping with Sudan's war". www.thenewhumanitarian.org. 11 September 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  32. ^ "'Real hell': Deadly fighting escalates in Sudan as truce expires". Al Jazeera. 4 June 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  33. ^ Waal, Alex de (6 November 2025). "Terror Returns to Darfur". Foreign Affairs. ISSN 0015-7120. Archived from the original on 3 December 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  34. ^ Thomas, Merlyn; Murphy, Matt; Mwai, Peter; Irvine-Brown, Richard (7 November 2025). "'Our job is only killing' - how Sudan's brutal militia carried out a massacre in el-Fasher". BBC News. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  35. ^ Bariyo, Nicholas (31 October 2025). "Sudan Militia, Armed With Drones, Hunts Down Black Population of Darfur". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  36. ^ Rascoe, Ayesha (7 December 2025). "UN humanitarian chief: world needs to 'wake up' and help stop violence in Sudan". NPR. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  37. ^ Steinhauser, Gabriele (21 March 2024). "'We Will Shoot You.' War in Darfur Raises New Fears of Genocide". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  38. ^ "Out of the desert of death, miracle survivors reveal Sudan's hidden genocide". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  39. ^ Raymond, Nathaniel A.; Howarth, Caitlin (28 October 2025). Human Security Emergency Day Two of RSF Control: Mass Killings Continue in El-Fasher (PDF) (Report). New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.: Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale School of Public Health. Retrieved 30 October 2025.{{cite report}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  40. ^ Elbagir, Yousra (29 October 2025). "Tens of thousands killed in two days in Sudan city, analysts believe". Sky News. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
  41. ^ "Transcript: Sudan — inside the world's worst humanitarian crisis". The Financial Times. 15 January 2026. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  42. ^ "US: State Department Determines Genocide in Sudan". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  43. ^ "Sudan: Mass killings prompt fears of a new Darfur genocide". DW. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  44. ^ "El-Fasher Falls to RSF: Evidence of Mass Killing". Yale School of Public Health, Humanitarian Research Lab. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  45. ^ Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan (17 February 2026). Sudan: Hallmarks of Genocide in El-Fasher (PDF) (Report). United Nations. A/HRC/61/77.
  46. ^ a b Corder, Mike (6 March 2025). "Sudan files case to UN court alleging UAE is breaching genocide convention by funding rebels". AP News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 22 March 2025.
  47. ^ Holligan, Anna (10 April 2025). "Sudan accuses UAE of 'complicity in genocide' at ICJ". BBC News. Archived from the original on 27 September 2025. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  48. ^ Mutambo, Aggrey (6 March 2025). "Sudan sues UAE for 'enabling genocide'". Daily Nation. Archived from the original on 22 September 2025.
  49. ^ "UAE denies Sudan's accusations of 'complicity in genocide' at the ICJ". Al Jazeera. 6 March 2025. Archived from the original on 8 September 2025.
  50. ^ "International Court of Justice throws out Sudan genocide case against UAE". Radio France Internationale. 5 May 2025. Archived from the original on 16 August 2025.
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