International Official Warns of Imminent Catastrophe as Displacement Surges in North Darfur

Geneva – Sudanhorizon

The Director-General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Amy Pope, has warned of an imminent humanitarian catastrophe in North Darfur, citing escalating insecurity and horrific human rights violations — including mass killings and ethnic and sexual violence — in El Fasher.

In a press statement issued during her visit to Sudan to assess the situation on the ground, Pope said that the El Fasher crisis is the direct result of an 18-month-long siege that has cut off families from food, water, and medical care.

“Although IOM teams are responding, the lack of security and the depletion of supplies mean we are reaching only a fraction of those in need,” she stated, warning that without safe access and urgent funding, humanitarian operations could grind to a halt just when communities need help the most.

According to the statement, intense shelling and ground attacks in El Fasher and surrounding areas over the past two weeks have displaced around 90,000 people, forcing families to flee along unsafe routes with little or no food, water, or medical assistance.

The IOM noted that tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped inside the city, living in famine-like conditions amid the collapse of hospitals, markets, and water networks.

It also reported growing protection concerns, including arbitrary detention, looting, physical assault, and gender-based violence. The Tawila area — which already hosted more than 650,000 internally displaced people before the recent escalation — is now receiving thousands of new arrivals from El Fasher, many with serious injuries.

Despite surging needs, humanitarian operations are on the brink of collapse. Warehouses are nearly empty, aid convoys face severe insecurity, and access restrictions continue to prevent the delivery of adequate assistance.

The organization called for urgent funding and safe, sustained humanitarian access to avert an even greater disaster.

The IOM added that a convoy departed Port Sudan on October 20 carrying shelter and non-food relief supplies for 7,500 displaced people in Tawila, to be distributed by the African Relief Committee and Save the Children International.

Through its Rapid Response Fund, IOM and its local partners are also implementing emergency projects to provide shelter materials, protection assistance, healthcare, and improved access to water, sanitation, and hygiene services for 60,000 people in North and South Darfur, in an effort to prevent disease outbreaks such as cholera.

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