The ongoing armed conflict in Sudan has led to the humanitarian crises of famine, mass displacement,
death, sexual violence, and widespread human rights violations and abuses. Before the start of the armed
conflict, there was a civilian uprising in 2019 which resulted in the ouster of the Omar Al-Bashir regime
which had formerly lasted almost thirty years. The civilian street protests persisted in demanding
democracy and civilian leadership. As a result, the joint military-civilian government was established,
but was shortly overthrown by a coup in October 2021. The coup leaders were General Abdel Fattah alBurhan (the commander of SAF and in effect the country's president), and his deputy the RSF leader General
Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo. The two generals disagreed on the proposed shift towards civilian rule. They
also disagreed among themselves on the plans to incorporate RSF soldiers into the official army/SAF based
on the framework agreement.5 As a result, fighting between the two sides began on 15th April 2023, leading
to today’s devastating crisis.
Before the current armed conflict, certain regions of Sudan, like South Kordofan (SK), Blue Nile (BN),
and the Darfur states hosted and produced internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees. Currently,
Sudan is producing one of the largest displacement crises in the world, with over 12 million people
displaced6 both internally and across borders due to ongoing armed conflict. Noting this level of
migration, there has been a general failure to accurately describe historical ties and closeness of family
members and kin communities with many Sudanese nationals across neighbouring countries such
as Egypt, Chad, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and others.
Research carried out by Human Rights Watch (HRW)7 indicates that “from April to November 2023, the
Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias in El Geneina (West Darfur state) killed thousands of
people and displaced many others as refugees and IDPs. Such acts may constitute war crimes under
international humanitarian law (IHL) because they were committed in the context of ethnic cleansing
campaign against the ethnic Masalit and other non-Arab populations in and around El Geneina”. Such
kinds of forced displacements have been taking place in other states of Sudan like South Kordofan and
Blue Nile.
Framework-Agreement-Final-ENG-05122022.pdf
https://www.rescue.org/article/crisis-sudan-what-happening-and-how-help
7
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/09/sudan-ethnic-cleansing-west-darfur
5
6
8
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