The war in Sudan continues for a third year since its initial start in April 2023. As a result, Sudan now faces the largest displacement crisis in history, surpassing Palestine and Ukraine.
The International Rescue Committee reports a death toll of over 150,000 civilians since the current conflict between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) began.
Both sides jointly staged a coup against longtime, unpopular dictator Omar Al-Bashir in 2019. The RSF, or Al Janjaweed, is a paramilitary group assembled by Al-Bashir to carry out the ethnic cleansing of Sudan’s non-Arab groups. Under his discretion, the RSF killed over 200,000 civilians in the Darfur War (2003-2005), and an additional 100,000 since then.
The Human Rights Watch reports the displacement of 11.8 million civilians, half of whom are women and children, as of September 2025. Yara Madani (she/her) has been a part of Iowa City’s Sudanese community for two years.
“I was in Khartoum [the capital of Sudan] when everything started, so I had to leave my home and my belongings to move to a safer place,” Madani said. “I ended up having to move four times, to three different cities and two different countries, which paused my education for two years.”
Education has been particularly impacted by the nation’s instability. A study by the Office for Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA) highlights an education crisis where 10.5 million children of the initial 12.5 million enrolled in school in 2023 are unable to return to school. This disproportionately affects young girls, who are two and a half times more likely to be out of primary school and 90% more likely to be out of secondary school in unstable areas around the world.
This is only one of the factors amplified by the intense quarrel between RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo ‘Hemedti’ and SAF leader Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan—now extending beyond the country’s borders. Outside forces like Russia’s Wagner Group and the United Arab Emirates continue to fuel the war by providing arms, notably to the RSF.
“This is not a civil war; a lot of countries are involved in the conflict, including the UAE, USA, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and many more,” Madani said.
Reports of the smuggling of Sudan’s gold and resources by both sides in exchange for artillery point to a shift from a famous civil war to a more dangerous proxy war. University of Iowa student Yassin Ahmed (he/him) voices the suspicions of many.
“This is not a civil war or between Sudanese, definitely not. We are being attacked by outsiders,” Ahmed said.
Attacks amid a Cholera outbreak have forced the suspension of medical/aid operations in central Darfur. “The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that in May, only 110 visas for the UN and international NGOs were approved out of the 355 pending requests, and the backlog was increasing,” the UN announces. Over 120,000 cases of Cholera and 3,000 deaths have been reported across the country.
U.S. aid cuts by the Trump administration contribute to the constraints of everyday life. Farmers, traders, women’s groups and volunteer organizations try to beat the growing famine rates. Nearly 30 million people, half of Sudan’s population, face extreme food insecurity, yet the crisis in Sudan is largely unknown by the public.
“Spread awareness as much as you can. A lot of people think helping is only money-wise, but even if you don’t have any money to spare, you can post or talk about [the war]. It can reach those who can help financially,” Madani said.
Mourwan Ali (he/him) believes the war has brought the Sudanese community together. “I wish more people knew the severity and the hardships it has caused, as well as the suffering and displacement of many Sudanese, and how strong our people are going to be through this,” Ali said.
Gender-based violence continues as women outnumber men amongst those internally displaced. Independent human rights experts present alarming reports of a staggering suicide rate for women due to sexual violence, rape, traumatic assaults and sexual slavery. Since 2025, there have been 330 reported cases of conflict-related sexual violence (likely higher due to underreporting). Gun violence also continues: in November 2025, PBS reported the massacre of over 800 people in a “multi-day rampage” in Ardamata.
“Stay strong and keep fighting. People need to stay united and help each other out. Everyone can play a part and make a difference,” Ali said.
