UN warns of worsening siege, cholera outbreak in Sudan's Darfur
3 Min Read
The UN warns of critical shortages in food, rising cholera cases, and a violent siege on El-Fasher as Sudan's humanitarian crisis deepens amid ongoing conflict.
-
A Sudanese woman receives an oral cholera vaccine during a 10-day vaccination campaign conducted by Health Ministry workers in Khartoum, Sudan, on August 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)
The United Nations has issued a grave warning about the Sudan humanitarian crisis, citing a dramatic escalation in violence and the rapid spread of disease amid continued conflict. Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric described the situation as dire, with civilians in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, bearing the brunt of the violence.
"Local sources report that El-Fasher is now under siege from all directions," Dujarric stated. "The city's remaining residents are facing critical shortages of food and water." He added that markets are nearly empty and that prices for the few available goods have "skyrocketed," as humanitarian access to the city remains “severely restricted.”
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), earthen barriers have been erected around El-Fasher, blocking the movement of people and humanitarian supplies. The siege has also led to the closure of community kitchens, which had been a crucial support system for many families still in the city.
"Earlier this week, local responders in El-Fasher reported further closures of community kitchens, which had been serving as a last line of support for many families," Dujarric noted.
Cholera outbreak spreads across Sudan
The UN also raised alarm over a rapidly spreading cholera outbreak across Sudan. Since July last year, the Sudanese Health Ministry has recorded more than 3,400 deaths and nearly 122,000 suspected cases of the waterborne disease.
"Infection rates are rising across all states in the Darfur region," Dujarric warned. He stressed that the cholera fatality rate is now well above emergency thresholds, compounding the humanitarian emergency.
Beyond North Darfur, violence and instability continue to displace civilians in other parts of Sudan. In Blue Nile State, nearly 200 people were forced to flee their homes in the locality of al-Tadamon on October 11, as fighting spread across the area. The UN noted that growing insecurity is threatening already fragile humanitarian operations across multiple regions.
Dujarric called on all parties to respect international humanitarian law and allow aid to reach civilians in need. He also renewed the UN’s call for global support for Sudan, highlighting that OCHA’s $4.2 billion humanitarian appeal is currently less than 27% funded. As the crisis deepens, the UN continues to emphasize that without immediate international intervention, millions of Sudanese civilians remain at risk from both conflict and disease.
On a related note, El-Fasher has been declared “uninhabitable", with new evidence revealing the destruction of most homes and alarming levels of malnutrition among residents trapped inside. It has now become a devastated enclave where nearly 250,000 people endure relentless artillery and drone fire, squeezed into an ever-shrinking area of survival.
For more than 549 days, fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have surrounded the city, blocking humanitarian aid and attempting to capture the Sudanese army’s last stronghold in western Sudan. Eyewitness accounts from nearly 900 escapees, many others were reportedly killed or abducted while trying to flee, describe a population “pushed to the edge of survival.”
