Sudan conflict gives way to world's worst internal displacement crisis

Sudan has been mired in civil war since April 15, 2023, when fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The conflict shattered a brief period of relative calm following recent coups and earlier civil wars, deepening an already severe humanitarian emergency.

As the war persists, Sudan now faces the world’s largest and fastest-growing internal displacement crisis. The RSF’s recent capture of El Fasher last month, the last major government-held city in Darfur, ended an eighteen-month siege but heightened fears of a de facto national partition, according to an article published by the Council on Foreign Relations.

What’s driving the conflict in Sudan?

The SAF and RSF were once allies, having jointly toppled longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in 2019. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan of the SAF assumed power as Sudan’s de facto leader, backed by RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti). Both men helped orchestrate the 2021 coup that removed Sudan’s transitional civilian government. However, international pressure for a civilian transition—and Burhan’s attempt to fold the RSF into the national army—triggered Hemedti’s armed revolt in April 2023.

International mediation has yielded little progress. US- and Saudi-led talks produced numerous ceasefires that repeatedly collapsed, and proposals from the African Union and regional groups failed to take hold. In 2024, Sudan’s government suspended its participation in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development after the bloc engaged with Hemedti, and authorities further tightened media restrictions. In November 2025, the RSF accepted a humanitarian ceasefire proposal supported by the United States and Arab partners, saying it “looks forward” to peace talks, though the Sudanese Army did not immediately respond.

Grave humanitarian situation

Before the war, Sudan was already in crisis, with nearly 16 million people facing severe food insecurity, 3.7 million internally displaced, and 1.3 million refugees from neighbouring countries. Conditions have deteriorated sharply since the conflict began.

As of November 2025, nearly twelve million people have been displaced, including more than 7.2 million within Sudan and over 4.2 million who have fled as refugees, asylum seekers, or returnees. Casualty estimates vary widely—from 20,000 to 150,000—due to restricted reporting.

The RSF’s October 2025 seizure of El Fasher cemented its control over the entire Darfur region and caused tens of thousands more civilians to flee. Humanitarian organizations report mass civilian killings during the takeover, though precise numbers remain unknown. Infrastructure across the country has been devastated by air strikes and shelling, with hospitals, schools, prisons, and residential facilities heavily damaged.

Disease outbreaks—cholera, dengue fever, malaria—are spreading rapidly as health systems collapse. Rising food and fuel prices have worsened hunger, with nearly twenty-five million people now facing acute food insecurity. Two regions have entered famine, and twenty more are at risk. The World Food Program warns Sudan could soon become “the world’s largest hunger crisis in recent history.”

Spillover of mass migration

Sudan’s displacement crisis is the world’s largest, and experts warn refugee numbers will keep rising. Women and children make up the majority of those fleeing. Neighbouring states, many already destabilized by their own conflicts, are struggling to absorb new arrivals. Refugees from Ethiopia and South Sudan—who once sought safety in Sudan—are now returning home alongside Sudanese nationals.

Roughly 882,000 people have gone west to Chad, while about 820,000 South Sudanese have returned home. Others have fled to the Central African Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, and Uganda, straining already fragile humanitarian systems. UN officials say Sudan’s neighbours need significantly more support, particularly the Central African Republic and Chad. Egypt’s border remains open, but refugees face long delays, the threat of deportation, and reports of mass arbitrary detentions.

External players

Foreign involvement has intensified the conflict. “This conflict has been enabled by external powers who continue to provide arms and financing” to both sides, said CFR Senior Fellow Michelle Gavin.

Egypt maintains close ties with the SAF, while Libya’s Khalifa Haftar—with Russian backing—has supplied weapons to the RSF. In February 2025, Russia announced an agreement to establish a naval base on Sudan’s Red Sea coast.

The SAF and US lawmakers have accused the UAE of arming the RSF, though the UAE denies this.

By Nazrin Sadigova