Darfur: Is a massacre imminent in El Fasher?

“The irony and the tragedy at once is that all this happened while the international community are watching it. So I think this is the time to prevent the atrocities that happened in El Geneina from repeating itself in El Fasher.”

Last week a 216 page Human Rights Watch report said it had found evidence that a genocide may have been committed in the city of El Geneina in Darfur – and that ethnic cleansing had occurred. It said thousands of members of African ethnic groups – particularly the Massalit – had been killed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces or RSF in door to door raids and as they tried to flee the city. The vast majority of Massalits have now fled western Darfur.

But now there’s grave concern that a similar massacre could happen in the city of El Fasher – the only city in Darfur not under RSF control. Thousands of internally displaced people are living in the city after fleeing RSF attacks elsewhere. Our guest today describes this as jumping from 'hot water to hot oil' as the group’s fighters have completely cut off all roads and fighting is underway within the city.

The UN has called the situation “gravely concerning”, while the United States has warned of a large scale massacre if the RSF takes the city. But is anyone able or willing to stop it?

For today’s Africa Daily podcast, Alan @Kasujja talks to a resident of El Fasher and to Adeeb Yousif, the former governor of Central Darfur.

The audio for this episode was updated at 1500 BST on 16 May 2024