Foreign Policy Brief #204 | Damian DeSola | June 27, 2025
Introduction
Across the world conflicts are raging, and in their paths leave levels of humanitarian crisis that reach peaks never seen in human history. One of these lesser reported upon conflict regions has the largest humanitarian crisis in recorded history: Sudan.
The Sudanese Civil War has been raging since 15 April 2023 with little sign of a potential ceasefire or peace agreement. Meanwhile, millions find themselves displaced and in need of humanitarian assistance, hundreds of thousands facing food insecurity, and thousands more are being subjected to sexual violence and genocide. It is the goal of this USRESIST Brief review the main actors in this conflict and bring to forefront the massive humanitarian needs of the Sudanese people.
The War
The main actors boil down to two major groups seeking to gain control over Sudan: the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The former is the official government’s military, while the latter is a paramilitary group established by the government.
Leading the SAF is President of Sudan General of the SAF Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. Al-Burhan played a major role in representing the military in the transitional government that replaced President Omar al-Bashir, the 30-year sitting head of state, in 2019. His role allowed him to consolidate power away from civilians and placing himself at the top of Sudan’s governance.
The RSF is led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti. He is also the chairman of the recently established Government of Peace and Unity, a parallel government meant to consolidate power in RSF held territory and establish legitimacy. The RSF was established in 2013 by the Sudanese government to fight rebellion in the Southwest of Sudan. Eventually, the RSF became a powerful entity and a personal paramilitary organization for President al-Bashir.
After al-Burhan’s consolidation of power, the RSF was placed below the SAF and was poised to have it integrated into the regular military. The spark that ignited hostilities was the SAF’s attempt to disperse RSF forces across Sudan as part of integration efforts. General Hemedti and the RSF viewed these actions as an immediate existential threat and took up arms against the military. The war is ongoing and the SAF has made gains over the RSF, but analysts believe that neither side has the capacity to defeat the other outright. Paradoxically, both sides still seem to believe that there are further opportunities to achieve strategic victories over the other.
The international community has attempted to facilitate negotiations between the SAF and RSF, but efforts quickly broke down. On January 7th and 16th of 2025, the US announced sanctions against Hemedti and al-Burhan respectively. The announcement aimed at punishing the military leaders for obstructing peace talks and democratic transition, as well as committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. The United Arab Emirates and Iran have armed the RSF and SAF respectively. Both nations have denied these reports even as shrapnel recovery and analysis prove otherwise.
The Humanitarian Crisis
As a result of this civil war, the people of Sudan are enduring extreme humanitarian distress. As previously mentioned, the United Nations and the International Rescue Committee (IRC)have declared the crisis to be the worst in recorded history. UN experts have also said that the humanitarian and diplomatic support for Sudan is dismal and insufficient for the prevention of further conflict and the reduction of the crisis. The IRC reports that 30.4 million Sudanese are experiencing humanitarian crisis while 14.6 million Sudanese have been displaced. The IRC states that it is “the largest and fastest displacement crisis in the world.”
According to the World Food Programme, Sudan is on the verge of “becoming the world’s largest hunger crisis in recent history”. They report that 24.6 million Sudanese face acute hunger, 637,000 are at catastrophic levels of hunger, and that famine has been confirmed in 10 areas of Sudan.
Mounting evidence of genocide collected by the United Nations and other organizations points to attempts at ethnic cleansing across Sudan. On 7 January 2025, US Secretary of State Blinken announced that members of both “SAF and the RSF had committed war crimes.” Furthermore, that “the RSF and allied Arab militias had committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.” The RSF in particular is found to be committing widespread killings in the West Darfur region of Sudan, with a particular aim at wiping out non-Arab communities in the region. Recently, the UN reported that the RSF killed over 100 people at an internally displaced peoples camp.
Sexual violence in Sudan, technically termed Conflict Related Sexual Violence (CRSV), is also reported as part of these ethnic cleansing activities. The UN reports that the conflict has disproportionately affected women and girls with crimes of “rape, sexual slavery, abduction, and other brutal forms of violence.” There have also been cases of sexual violence against boys and men. CRSV against non-Arabs has increased, and evidence shows these targeted assaults are attached with goals of producing “Arab babies”.
Conclusion
Little is being done by the international community to prevent further atrocities or reduce the humanitarian crisis happening before our eyes. Western policy or media has very little interest in seeking awareness or attempts at reducing human suffering in a nation of 50 million people. The United States is ignoring the situation, as the Trump administration has reduced funding for international humanitarian aid and has recently proposed reduction in funding for the investigation of war crimes.
Your writer hopes you keep the Sudanese people in mind as you consider the status of our world today and consume the corporate media that prefers your mind focused on the wars they care about.
Engagement Resources
- International Rescue Committee Sudan crisis donation page
- World Food Programme Sudan Emergency donation page