By Ephraim Agbo
In Sudan’s Darfur region, El Fasher is being strangled to death in slow motion — and the world is watching.
Once a thriving capital, today it is a skeleton of its former self: markets silent, streets littered with rubble, and children wasting away to skin and bone. The siege is not an accident. It is not a side-effect of war. It is a deliberate weapon.
Starvation as a Military Strategy
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — a paramilitary group already accused of mass atrocities — have choked off all supply lines. Witnesses say residents are eating leaves, animal feed, and grass to survive. Many children have already died. More will follow.
This is not just a humanitarian crisis — it is a war crime in real time. Yet, the world powers that claim to “stand for human rights” have done little more than issue statements.
Civilians Hunted, Young Men Taken or Killed
Those who try to flee face deadly accusations of “helping the army.” Young men are often given two choices:
- Be executed on the spot.
- Be forced into RSF ranks as fighters.
These are not battlefield casualties — these are targeted killings.
Help is Ready… and Blocked
The United Nations has 70 trucks of food, medicine, and water waiting just outside the city. Every single day of delay costs lives. The RSF, and those who control access, have refused to let them in.
Adam Was Hornu, Director of Operations & Advocacy at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, warns:
“At least 300,000 civilians remain trapped with no food, no water, no health services. Civilians must not be targeted. We urgently need humanitarian pauses to deliver life-saving assistance.”
Yet despite this, the trucks remain idle, and the world’s leaders remain silent enough for the killing to continue.
Billions Needed, Billions Ignored
The UN is begging for $4 billion to respond to Sudan’s nationwide crisis — money for food, health care, water, sanitation, and aid for survivors of sexual violence, which is being reported on a massive scale.
But wealthy nations that have spent trillions on wars elsewhere are somehow unable — or unwilling — to fund the basic survival of Sudan’s civilians.
Foreign Hands in Sudan’s War
Sudan’s army claims it shot down a plane carrying 40 Colombian mercenaries, allegedly supplied by the United Arab Emirates to back the RSF.
The UAE denies it — but the UN and rights groups have already pointed to evidence of weapons smuggling and foreign involvement.
If proven true, this would mean foreign governments are not just watching Sudan’s collapse — they are profiting from it.
The World’s Moral Failure
El Fasher’s agony is not just Sudan’s problem. It is a test of the world’s conscience — and so far, the world is failing.
History will not remember the diplomatic handshakes, the cautious press releases, or the humanitarian appeals ignored. It will remember the starving children, the silenced cities, and the powerful nations that stood by while a population was deliberately crushed.
The trucks are there. The food is there. The medicine is there.
The only thing missing is the will to act.
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