What’s happening in Sudan? (In 1 minute)
By Yusra Suedi (PhD, Assistant Professor of International Law at University of Manchester)
Hey SAILers!
Sudan is a country in Northeast Africa where two big groups of soldiers are fighting each other. One group is the Sudanese Army (backed by the government), and the other is the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which is fighting against it. Both want to control the country.
The fighting is hurting many ordinary people, including a non-Arab African group of mostly farmers called the Masalit, who live in the western Darfur region.
Some, like Human Rights Watch, a UN body, and the United States, believe the RSF may be deliberately trying to destroy the Masalit people — in other words, committing genocide.
There is also suspicion (here, here and here) that the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a country in the Middle East, has helped the RSF with weapons or money. Sudan’s government even took the UAE to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing it of being complicit in genocide by funding and arming the RSF — but the ICJ refused to hear the case.
Things have recently gotten much worse: In October 2025, the RSF captured El-Fasher, the last major Darfur city still held by the Sudanese Army. Tens of thousands of people fled to nearby towns to escape the RSF attacks, and many are now without food, water, or medical care.
So what now?
The UN Security Council has been paying attention: it has ordered the RSF to stop, has long ordered all countries to stop providing arms and set up a Panel of Experts to monitor the situation — but the conflict continues. In theory, the Council could send peacekeeping troops…
The International Criminal Court (ICC) can put those responsible for major crimes on trial (adding to its ongoing investigation on Darfur for crimes committed between 2003–2008, where the first criminal was declared guilty this month!). Meanwhile, the UN has published a report calling for legal action against current violators.