Darfur Needs You Now More Than Ever, Speak up!

Darfur’s genocide has been ongoing for over 24 years – and the number of civilian casualties increases every day while the world remains SILENT!

Dear DWAG Supporters:

We are reaching out to you with an urgent appeal! Since November 2023, with the exception of El Fasher in North Darfur, Darfur has fallen entirely under the control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). In El Geneina, West Darfur alone, the RSF has slaughtered between 10,000 to 15,000 people, with countless more casualties across Darfur and Sudan going undocumented. Civilian deaths have escalated to alarming rates, yet the world remains silent. In a recent report, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) confirmed that a child dies every two hours in Zamzam camp, in North Darfur. Before this crisis, Darfur was home to over 122 internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, where 3 million people had lived for over two decades. They remain unable to return home, their lands stolen, and their attackers still unpunished. The international community’s inaction indirectly legitimizes the slaughter and extermination of Sudan’s indigenous African population—this is why we urgently need your help.

Since April 15, 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in violence, sparked by a power struggle between the RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). This war has torn the country apart, causing unspeakable suffering. The RSF has occupied civilians’ homes, using rape and sexual violence as weapons of war, while the SAF’s shelling and bombardment have destroyed homes, markets, and essential infrastructure. In both Khartoum and Darfur, RSF fighters have committed widespread sexual and gender-based violence, including abductions and sexual slavery. Starvation is now being used as a weapon of war by both sides.

While the atrocities in Khartoum constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity, in Darfur, active genocide is being systematically carried out against indigenous Africans. The international community must act immediately to end the violence and hold those responsible accountable.

Patterns of Ethnically Targeted Attacks and Extermination of Indigenous Africans in Darfur

The RSF’s attacks in Darfur are systematic and explicitly aimed at the indigenous African population. Civilians have been massacred, and deprived of food, water, and medical assistance, with the RSF deliberately cutting off all means of survival. As a result, a large portion of the population has been forced into mass displacement since the start of the conflict. This genocidal strategy has been most apparent in El Geneina, West Darfur, where an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 indigenous Masalit people were brutally murdered by the RSF and its allied militias. Similar atrocities have unfolded in Kutum and Tawila in North Darfur, Mornay in West Darfur, and Nyala in South Darfur, where countless lives have been lost, and residents forced to flee their homes. Many survivors have taken refuge in El Fasher, now internally displaced persons (IDPs), but they remain under the threat of further attacks.

El Fasher is far from a safe haven. The city is under continuous shelling, targeting civilians and healthcare infrastructure as 4 hospital have recent been bombed by RSF.  Major roads in and out of the city are blocked, preventing fuel, goods and  humanitarian aid into the city. Both Zamzam and Abu Shook camp, home to 500,000 displaced people, has been attacked, and the situation is further worsened by devastating floods, which have made it even harder for people to survive or  flee.

Despite a recent U.S.-led ceasefire negotiation between the warring parties in Switzerland, attacks on civilians continue, particularly in displacement camps. Life-saving humanitarian aid remains blocked, and the suffering is only deepening with outbreaks of disease. Now more than ever, we must ensure that swift and decisive action for civilian protection and humanitarian aid is taken by the U.S., UN, and A.U. to stop this genocide and save lives.

The Danger of Darfur Under Full Control By The RSF

Currently, over 98% of Darfur is in a state of chaos, with the region almost entirely out of government control. Darfur, an area the size of France, is now dominated by the RSF, with only two cities partially controlled by the SAF. The RSF has intensified its attacks, seizing homes, blocking civilians’ movement, and tightening its grip on the region. If this continues, it could mark the final stage of the extermination of Darfur’s indigenous people, including survivors of the 2003 genocide.

The RSF and Janjaweed militias are repeating the horrors of the 2003 genocide on a larger and more devastating scale. Once limited to attacks on horseback, the Janjaweed have evolved into the nationally recognized RSF, equipped with advanced weapons and backed by powerful regional and international supporters. Unlike in 2003, no international humanitarian agencies, journalists, or UN diplomats are allowed in Darfur, leaving genocide victims to fend for themselves. The RSF has consolidated its control over Darfur’s five states, establishing itself as one of the most systematic genocidal forces in history. Despite this, world leaders remain silent or offer only minimal condemnation.

We at DWAG Say NO to the silence conspiracy against the ongoing and escalating genocide in Darfur! And ask you to add your voice

The Presence of Multinational Troops in Darfur

The RSF has proven to be a multi-national militia. While the majority of its troops are from Sudan, many more are from West and Central African countries, including Arab militias respectively from the Republic of Mali, Niger, Central African Republic, Chad, and Libya. The introduction of cross-border uncontrolled troops alone proves to be a dangerous trend. With the history of terrorist activities from Sudan to Mali in the region, if left unchecked, those temporary militia forces may evolve into ISIS or al-Qaeda army-like regional extremist forces, fueling crises that both international and regional actors will be forced to respond to – but it will be too late to contain them. Such a regional supply of troops from various countries equally makes control or a solution at the national level impossible. Therefore, the humanitarian crisis in Sudan is not just a regional issue—it is a global catastrophe

What You Can Do To Help

In the face of genocide and current unspeakable atrocities, solutions must take an atrocity prevention approach that starts with civilian protection and distribution of humanitarian aid. This should be followed by pursuing accountability for the most serious international crimes, which will then create an environment that enables the peaceful transformation of Sudan.

Therefore, we need you to add your voices to ours to call on the U.S. government and the member states of the UNSC to take the following steps:

• Immediately deploy UN force to intervene robustly to protect civilians and to stop the genocide in Darfur.
• Open an unhindered humanitarian accessibility channel in Sudan and Darfur, in particular, to reach all those in need.
• Pursue accountability for those most responsible for past and current genocidal attacks, war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur and across the Sudan.
• Impose targeted sanctions, such as freezing assets, imposing travel bans, sanctioning all businesses associated with the two warring generals in Sudan, and cutting the funding for weapons. 
• Deploy immediate humanitarian intervention to all in need inside Sudan and in the neighboring countries with and without the permission of the government.
• Hold the regional enablers of the genocide in Darfur accountable, including regional and international actors supplying funds and weaponry to the RSF.
• Provide support to Civil Society Organizations and women from historically marginalized Sudanese to have the capacity and voice at all levels of decision-making processes regarding solutions to the current crises.

Other Ways To Help

• Send our “Letter To The Congress” that contains all of our demands and requests to your representatives and call their offices to ask that they be the voice for the people of Sudan and demand U.S. leadership in ending genocide and holding perpetrators accountable. Or send our letter to the editor to the city news paper.
• Donate to DWAG or other organizations providing support to the local-level emergency response initiatives in Sudan.
• Join and support our campaign Stand with Sudan campaign! and share it via your social media platform with 100 people.

The crisis in Sudan and the catastrophe in Darfur are of global magnitude which requires global response but if we can speak in one voice and demand our government and the UN to work for an end, we can end this genocide and hold perpetrators accountable.

With our collective effort, we can make a difference!  

With Gratitude,

Niemat Ahmadi, and DWAG team