News 28 October 2025 IOM Chief the Escalating Violence in El Fasher

Geneva/Port Sudan, 28 October 2025 - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) calls on all parties to the conflict in Sudan to ensure the protection of civilians in El Fasher, provide safe passage for trapped civilians, and to allow immediate, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access as displacement from the city surges.

In just two days, more than 26,000 people have been forced to flee the city following intense fighting, according to IOM's Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM).

IOM is dispatching emergency shelter items, including kits and tents, which are scheduled to arrive within a few days to Tawila village, a major centre in Darfur receiving displaced persons from El Fasher.

Reports of violations of international humanitarian law and abuses of human rights in El Fasher are deeply concerning, including indiscriminate attacks, targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure, gender-based violence, and ethnically motivated attacks against displaced populations.

Scenes emerging from El Fasher are horrific. Thousands of families are once again displaced due to violence and forced to walk for days under the scorching sun. Mothers are carrying infants, and children are helping elderly relatives who can barely stand.

They are facing high insecurity, movement restrictions, protection risks, theft and assaults with most having nothing left: no food, no shelter, no medicine, and no certainty of where they will be safe next. People arrive in small villages around El Fasher exhausted, hungry, and terrified.

This surge in displacement is amplifying the already dire needs. Shelter, food, health care, clean water, and protection are urgently needed. IOM's DTM programme continues to provide critical information and relevant data on needs and displacement trends to help humanitarian actors deliver evidence-based responses. Yet access remains extremely limited, and needs are rising faster than aid can reach people.

IOM urges the international community to act now to end the suffering of the people of El Fasher and Sudan. The Organization remains committed to protecting and assisting affected communities.

For more information, please visit IOM's Media Centre.