War in Sudan Creates World’s Largest and Worst IDP Camp

War in Sudan now enters its third year, while Sudanese people are still suffering a devastating combination of the largest wave of displacement and humanitarian crisis as consequences of armed conflict, between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its allied Arab militias, and the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF). The impunity and lack of accountability have enabled atrocities across the country and ravaged the lives of Sudanese civilians.

Although, the number of the Sudanese internally displaced persons (IDPs) has fallen by 2.4%, with nearly 400,000 people returning to their places of origin in al-Jazirah, Sennar and Khartoum states, the displacement crisis is still ongoing, compounding and deepening. They total over 11.3 million IDPs, with 47% living across 10,285 locations in 186 localities in all 18 states of Sudan amid famine, violence and deepening humanitarian crisis.

With the change in the balance of power in favor of the Sudanese army, and wrested back full control over the Capital Khartoum and other territory, while Rapid Support Forces becomes unable to control their conquered territories, and controls much of Darfur and, with its allies, parts of the south close to the Ethiopian border, the RSF escalated attacks on civilians, with reports of sexual violence and arbitrary executions.

In February 2025, the RSF intensely bombed and shelled North Darfur’s famine-stricken Zamzam Camp, home to half a million displaced persons, and the nearby city of al-Fashir the provincial capital of North Darfur Province. The attacks killed more than 100, including 20 children and nine aid workers.

The recent reports confirms, around hundreds of thousand households up to 400,000 persons have been displaced from Sudan’s Zamzam camp in North Darfur after it was taken over by RSF, left more than 300 civilians were killed including 10 humanitarian personnel from Relief International in fighting on Friday and Saturday around the Zamzam and Abu Shouk displacement camps and the town of al-Fashir in North Darfur. The shortage humanitarian response that was able to continue within the camp is under threat with the continuously escalating of atrocities committed against civilians and children in Darfur.

Serious crimes against children have surged across Sudan’s Darfur states, compared to the last year. over 180 violations verified in North Darfur alone, and an 83% increase in child casualties in Sudan. An estimated 146,000 children will suffer from severe acute malnutrition, the deadliest form of malnutrition.

Since 2024, the siege of al-Fashir and escalating the fighting are devastating lives on a massive scale, thousands of civilians are trapped, exacerbating the suffering of vulnerable populations, and leaving at least 782 civilians dead and over 1,143 injured. These crimes constitute violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, including potential war crimes.

Extraterritorial Players Fuel the Conflict

These atrocities committed by the RSF against IDPs with international silence accompanies alleged military and media support from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Sudan government has announced to have satellite imagery and documented scientific reports proving the UAE was supplying with the heavy weapons and other military technology used against the camp’s residents over the past three months. UN experts investigating the possible smuggling of weapons from Chad into Darfur have documented a consistent pattern of cargo flights originating from the UAE to Chad, where they have identified at least three overland routes potentially used for transporting weapons into neighboring Sudan.

Sudan has applied to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), claiming UAE is violating treaty obligations and accountable for its alleged support to the RSF and its militants committing genocide in Darfur, and to impose immediate provisional measures to prevent further harm. Other reports mentioned that several countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and Yemen, also have sent large quantities of arms and ammunition to both the RSF and SAF, fueling the conflict.

Gold as a “conflict mineral”

The gold trade is the key motivation for fueling the ongoing crisis; the RSF controls the gold mines in South Darfur, including the al-Junaid mine, while the SAF controls gold mines in North Darfur. Most of the illicit gold production in Sudan is smuggled out and transported through countries such as Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda, and South Sudan before arriving in the UAE.

Seven companies and one individual linked to the RSF are alleged to be liable for funding military operations to acquire weapons, pay salaries, fund media campaigns, lobby and buy the support of other political and armed groups. The smuggled gold traffic is a significant contributor to kill tens of thousands of civilians across the capital, Khartoum, and the western Darfur region.

Throughout these three years of deadly conflict, all actors involved in the war are directly or indirectly responsible for serious atrocity crimes and gross violations of human rights. Victims are entitled to remedy and reparations for these abuses, and states are obliged to implement these entitlements, integrating  the Principles on Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and Displaced Persons, also known as the Pinheiro Principles and recently published as a handbook for implementation in the MENA region. Given the cross-border and regional responsibilities for such abuses of citizens across the Arab region, HLRN is advocating a regional approach to remedy for their victims. (See HIC-HLRN at the Third Arab Land Conference in this issue of Land Times)

Photo: People watch as fighters of the Sudan Liberation Movement, a rebel group active in Sudan`s Darfur State, attend a graduation ceremony in the southeastern Gedaref State on 28 March 2024. Source: AFP via Getty Images.