Sudan’s humanitarian collapse
- UN reporting says nearly 4 million displaced people who returned home found water, health, and power systems destroyed. (news.un.org) - One account estimates over 12 million displaced, 25 million people going hungry, and famine declared in parts of North Darfur and Greater Kordofan. (respublica.media) - A BBC probe ties Colombian mercenaries to RSF support, while reports say Pakistan froze a $1.5 billion weapons sale after Saudi objections. (bbc.com, firstpost.com)
Nearly 4 million Sudanese have gone back to their home areas and found the basics gone: water systems wrecked, clinics damaged, and electricity heavily disrupted. (news.un.org) The International Organization for Migration said on April 21 that these returns are concentrated in places the army has recently retaken, including Aj Jazirah, Sennar, and Khartoum states. It warned that returns will not last without repairs, jobs, and basic services. (iom.int) The wider crisis is still growing. United Nations figures say nearly 34 million people in Sudan need humanitarian aid in 2026, about 14 million have been displaced since the war began on April 15, 2023, and 4.4 million of them have fled to neighboring countries. (news.un.org) Hunger is spreading with the war. The World Food Programme says famine conditions have been confirmed in Al Fasher in North Darfur and Kadugli in South Kordofan, with 20 more areas across Greater Darfur and Greater Kordofan at risk. (wfp.org) The conflict began as a power struggle between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary force that once fought alongside it. Three years later, aid agencies say the war has shattered water networks, schools, hospitals, and local markets across much of the country. (reuters.com, unocha.org) Aid groups are also warning that the response is running short of money. OCHA’s 2026 plan seeks $2.87 billion to reach 20.4 million people, but the plan was only 17.6 percent funded when the latest update was posted. (humanitarianaction.info, news.un.org) Outside powers are still shaping the battlefield. The U.S. Treasury said on April 17 that it sanctioned a network of Colombian nationals and companies accused of recruiting former soldiers and training fighters, including children, for the Rapid Support Forces. (home.treasury.gov) A BBC-linked report published April 22 said phone-tracking data tied Colombian mercenaries to Rapid Support Forces operations around el-Fasher and said the network was backed by the United Arab Emirates. The United Arab Emirates has repeatedly denied arming the Rapid Support Forces. (bbc.com, reuters.com) A United Nations panel report cited by the Associated Press on April 22 said an armed group in eastern Libya sent the Rapid Support Forces military support, including Colombian mercenaries and equipment. The report said the materiel route ran through southeastern Libya into Darfur. (apnews.com) For civilians, the immediate picture is simpler than the geopolitics: people are returning to neighborhoods without pumps, power, medicine, or schools, while famine zones and front lines keep shifting. The agencies tracking the crisis are asking for the same thing they were asking a year ago — access, repairs, and money before more returns collapse. (news.un.org, wfp.org)
