Hundreds of Children Flee el-Fasher, Arrive in Tawila 'Terrified and Alone'

Hundreds of Sudanese children have arrived in the town of Tawila in West Darfur without their parents after fleeing the takeover of el-Fasher by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on 26 October. Humanitarian groups report children reaching the area exhausted, traumatised and often separated from family amid chaotic flight.

Children arriving exhausted and traumatised

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said at least 400 unaccompanied children have reached Tawila, though the true number is believed to be much higher. The NRC describes children "exhausted and deeply distressed" after journeys that often involved days of walking across desert terrain. Many are reported to be afraid of armed groups they fled or encountered en route; others were separated from parents, while some parents are believed to be missing, detained or dead.

"Children are reaching Tawila exhausted and deeply distressed, often after days of walking through the desert," the NRC said.

The RSF seized control of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, on 26 October after an 18-month siege that left communities cut off from food, medicine and other essentials. The RSF, which has been fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) for control of parts of Sudan since April 2023, has been accused by witnesses and aid groups of mass killings, kidnappings and widespread sexual violence during the takeover. The RSF denies deliberately targeting civilians and says abuses are the work of rogue elements.

United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk said in mid-November that the reported atrocities in el-Fasher "constitute the gravest of crimes." The UN estimates more than 100,000 people have fled el-Fasher since the RSF takeover, many crossing into neighbouring Chad for safety.

Displacement pressure on Tawila

The NRC reported it had registered at least 15,000 new arrivals in Tawila — about 60 km (37 miles) from el-Fasher — since 26 October, with registration teams recording on average more than 200 children each day. Nidaa, a teacher with the NRC education programme in Tawila, said many children show clear signs of acute trauma.

"When we first started our classes, some of the children could not speak at all when they arrived. Others were waking up with nightmares," she said, describing children who hid for hours, travelled by night to avoid attacks and became separated from family in the chaos.

Humanitarian agencies warn that already crowded displacement sites around Tawila are being overwhelmed. A November report by the Sudanese American Physicians Association estimated that more than 650,000 internally displaced people from el-Fasher and other parts of Darfur had sought shelter in and around Tawila amid months of fighting. The report found that nearly three-quarters of displaced residents were living in informal sites without adequate infrastructure, and fewer than 10% of displaced households had reliable access to water or latrines.

Risks to women and children

A group of UN experts warned that the deteriorating conditions have increased the risk of sexual exploitation, trafficking and recruitment of children into fighting. The experts said women and girls have been abducted in RSF-held areas and that unaccompanied and separated children face elevated risks of sexual violence and exploitation.

"We are deeply concerned at the alarming reports of human trafficking since the takeover of el-Fasher and surrounding areas by the RSF," the experts said, calling for urgent action to halt human rights violations and expand protection services.

Humanitarian organisations are calling for immediate scale-up of shelter, water, sanitation, protection and mental health services in Tawila and other reception areas to meet the urgent needs of children and families displaced by the fighting.