Pay or Die… How the RSF Profits from Its Siege of El Fasher

Sudanhorizon – The Continent Weekly
An African news outlet based in the United States reports that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are leaving residents of El Fasher with only a narrow escape route – but extorting them for everything they own in return.
The weekly newspaper The Continent said besieged residents of El Fasher claim that leaving the city costs more than 600,000 Sudanese pounds (roughly 300 US dollars at the black-market rate), most of which is taken by the paramilitary group enforcing the blockade.
The RSF has kept the North Darfur capital under siege for over a year. Tawila, the nearest safe town, lies about 60 kilometres away and now hosts some 379,000 displaced people from El Fasher and the Zamzam camp, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council.
The Continent, a weekly publication produced by African editors and correspondents designed to be read and shared via WhatsApp and other social media platforms, quoted displaced woman Hikma (name changed for protection), who fled with her four young children:
“Leaving El Fasher for Tawila was one of the hardest experiences of my life.”
Hikma said she spent more than 1.5 million Sudanese pounds on the journey, part of it paid directly to the RSF. “They control the main road between El Fasher and Tawila; we are forced to pay exorbitant crossing fees.”
Those fleeing also pay steep charges to donkey-cart owners along the way, though these usually cover only part of the trip, leaving families to walk most or all of the 60 kilometres on foot.
The route itself is targeted by drones, including an attack last week that destroyed three food aid trucks near Mellit in North Darfur, according to the United Nations. A similar strike in June on another UN convoy killed five people and wounded others.
When Hikma and her children finally reached Tawila, no houses were awaiting them, “only fragile grass shelters.” With the rainy season approaching, displaced families face hunger, homelessness, and disease, as cholera spreads through the town, claiming the lives of children, women, and the elderly, aid workers say.
“We have lost everything – yet we still have to struggle to survive,” Hikma said.
Many who cannot afford the escape are turning instead to Abu Shouk camp near El Fasher, which the RSF attacked on 11 August, killing dozens. Local medics report the camp is already desperately short of food and clean water.

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