Darfur Escape Support & Relief Update - December 2023
Over the last six months, one of our private Sudanese partners has been assisting survivors as they flee the campaign of war crimes and genocide by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against ethnic African minorities in Darfur. This has been some of the most intense work we’ve seen over the last 12 years of laboring alongside Sudanese heroes. We are incredibly proud of the brave people who have worked around the clock —often at great personal risk— to help some of the most vulnerable escape safely into South Sudan.
We’d like to provide you with an important situation and programming update concerning this emergency work. Let’s start with the current situation in Darfur as a lot has shifted on the ground the past several weeks.
Situation Update
Sudan’s military regime disintegrated on April 15, 2023. The army and paramilitary RSF, the two primary groups in the regime, went to war with each for control of Sudan. Fighting has spread across the country, with millions of Sudanese caught in the crossfire and ethnic minorities facing famine, war crimes, and even genocide.
The long-oppressed western Darfur region has been hit hardest by this senseless conflict. A full-blown genocide of the Masalit ethnic minority in West Darfur by the RSF appears to be underway, with tribal leaders confirming that more than 12,000 of their people having already been exterminated. The death toll in West Darfur is actually far higher as thousands more remain missing and stories of massacres continue trickling out with the stream of traumatized survivors.
Over the past few months, the catastrophe in West Darfur has extended more fully to the rest of Darfur as the RSF and their local Arab allies fight to establish dominance over all of western Sudan. The army was focused on defending their bases in Darfur’s provincial capital cities, allowing the RSF to sweep through smaller towns and rural areas that —at best— only have poorly-armed local militias and oppressive police forces to defend them. Throughout the entirety of this war, the army has shown no interest in protecting civilians, even in areas of Darfur it controlled.
A multi-week, brutal offensive by the RSF against most army positions in Darfur concluded in late October with the state capitals of Nyala and Zalingei being overrun. Since then, tens of thousands of terrified citizens across Darfur have fled as the army withdrew its remaining forces from the region. Only North Darfur and the city of El Fasher remain under the control of the army. A major RSF offensive there seems inevitable.
The RSF’s soldiers have brought chaos and destruction with them into southern Darfur, where our Sudanese partner has been working around the clock to help people flee safely into South Sudan. Like most areas of RSF-controlled Sudan, security has collapsed in southern Darfur over the last several weeks.
Photo: Armed Salamat militia ride toward Habaniya territory. (Social Media)
The RSF, which is more or less a terrorist organization, has proven to be incapable of governing. This reality can be seen easily throughout southern Darfur. The paramilitary force’s targeted killings and threats of violence have led to tens of thousands of new refugees. RSF soldiers have pillaged markets and homes, arms trafficking and other illicit industries are flourishing, and complex local conflicts have again reignited as certain ethnic groups use the fog of war to settle old scores, sometimes with backing from the RSF.
To provide just one example of the latter, in mid-November our Sudanese partner reported that hundreds of armed militiamen belonging to the Salamat and Habaniya tribes were fighting each other near the South Sudan border. Local tribal disputes, including many peaceful ones, are common in Darfur; but, what caught their attention is that this specific armed conflict was between two Arab tribes. Tensions have run high for years between the Salamat and Habaniya —mostly over land— but this round of fighting began after army forces withdrew from the area a week earlier and the RSF took over.
A video taken by a Salamat fighter and posted to social media confirms the fighting, showing members of his tribe riding on horseback toward Habaniya villages as he says “The Habaniya will be annihilated. Go, go, readiness!” Go, go, readiness is a battle cry sometimes used by the RSF, suggesting the Salamat militia has ties to the paramilitary force.
The ethnic dimensions of the RSF’s war to control Darfur are harrowing enough —as is readily apparent in the West Darfur massacres— but the group’s willingness to take sides in Arab-Arab local conflicts is a grim reminder that no one is safe as long as the RSF exists. Where the RSF goes, death and destruction follows.
Tariq’s Story *
Tariq is from Zalingei in Darfur. The city’s displacement camps were home to people who belong to African ethnic groups targeted by the RSF. “Zalingei was my home even though it was not always easy. I was arrested once before and beaten by police,” he describes.
Tariq and two of his friends fled Zalingei when the war made staying impossible. “The janjaweed stole all of our belongings but we managed to escape,” he says. Janjaweed is a term used to describe the RSF and their Arab militia allies. They left the city on foot.
Their harrowing journey through the war toward the South Sudan border took 16 days. Tariq and his friends say the army did nothing to protect anyone.
Our Sudanese partner provided them ground transport in southern Darfur and helped them cross safely into South Sudan, giving them food when they arrived. Tariq and his friends are now safe in Juba. They do not plan on returning anytime soon since the RSF now control Zalingei.
“I hope to go home one day, but we cannot go back with the janjaweed breathing threats against us,” he says. “My friends are grateful to those who helped us get out. We would be dead without them. Please tell people everywhere to give so we can help more people. We can still save many lives but it takes money to do it.”
*Tariq’s name has been changed to protect his identity.
Photo: RSF bootprints outside of a village in southern Darfur. In the final weeks of their work, team members frequently had to navigate areas that the RSF had a growing presence in. (Operation Broken Silence)
Program Update
During the past six months, our Sudanese partner’s seven person team has helped roughly 1,900 refugees fleeing RSF violence navigate parts of Central, South, and East Darfur, cross safely into South Sudan, and provided a limited amount of food and other basic necessities to those most in need.
This work has taken on a variety of creative forms, ranging from moving people on a large truck to guiding those fleeing on foot to safer routes that led to the South Sudan border. Most highways and major roads in Darfur are now overrun by the RSF and their Arab militia allies, making any travel harrowing for those belonging to targeted ethnic groups.
Many people who made contact with our rudimentary escape network said this was the only source of hope and help they had found since the war began in April. Some reported seeing RSF soldiers and their local Arab allies executing unarmed black civilians, including male babies and male children. These accounts match recent, horrifying public reporting on Arab fighters “hunting” for boys belonging to African tribal groups elsewhere in Darfur.
In November, our Sudanese partner informed us that spiraling security conditions had made continuing this program untenable. Despite often being in or near areas with a growing RSF presence, not a single member of the team was harmed or killed during this lifesaving work. The last team member crossed into South Sudan at the beginning of December, effectively bringing this escape assistance work to an end. We are now shifting to more basic humanitarian activities (food, clothing, shelter, etc.) for over 400 Darfuri refugees who have traveled all the way to Juba, South Sudan.
At their request, we aren’t releasing the names of team members or any information that can identify them. They hope to continue working in Darfur one day and their anonymity will be required to do so.
This brave and successful operation was made possible in part by the wonderful generosity of our donors, who paid for fuel, food, and other materials that were used to help people reach safety in South Sudan. Without your generous support, it is likely that some of the 1,900 people you helped would not have made it. We can’t thank you enough for your support. People are alive today because of you.
How You Can Help
2023 has been a difficult and remarkable year in Sudan. Difficult in that the regime’s civil war has inflicted unprecedented death and destruction on the Sudanese people. Remarkable in that we’ve seen more bravery, love, and grit in our Sudanese partners than ever before.
Funding for all of our programs remains an uphill battle due to rising costs from the war. Our Sudanese partners are also receiving fewer donations as internationally-minded donors focus on the wars in Ukraine and Israel/Palestine, despite the humanitarian crisis in Sudan being the worst in the world. The result is that there are currently no funds available to help the more than 400 Darfuri refugees in Juba.
The good news is that you can help. Your generosity will bring food, medicine, clothing, and more to these people in their time of greatest need:
$1,000: Gives culturally-respective, quality clothing to women in need.
$750: Delivers most basic foodstuffs needed for communal meals during cultural celebrations.
$500: Provides a daily nutritious meal to 35 children for an entire month.
$250: Gives basic medicines to the refugee community for two months.
$100: Feeds two families for one month.
$50: Feeds a family for one month.
Operation Broken Silence is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Your donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law.
Other Ways To Give
Checks - Personal checks and grants from DAFs can be make payable to Operation Broken Silence and mailed to PO Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900.
Stocks and Mutual Funds - Use this giving form to donate stock. To give from a mutual fund, download our Investment Fund Transfer Form and follow the instructions. Please note that all stock and mutual fund donations are nonrefundable.
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Fundraise - Start a fundraising page and ask friends and family to give! These last few days of the year are the perfect time to fundraise.
Give Monthly - The Renewal is our passionate family of monthly givers supporting Sudanese heroes. Sign up here.
