Sudan Crisis: UN Urges for ‘Unhindered’ Humanitarian Access as Fighting Rages in Kordofan
The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, has called for unimpeded humanitarian access in Sudan amid a worsening crisis.
Meanwhile, fighting is raging between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Kordofan region in central Sudan as the paramilitary group pushes eastwards.
Humanitarian Access
As part of his visit to various areas in war-torn Sudan, the UN humanitarian chief met with representatives from the two warring parties, urging for unimpeded access to humanitarian aid.
“We need more UN boots on the ground. The UN is a ship that was not built to stay in the harbor, and this visit has been part of that big push to make sure we’re mobilized closer to those we serve,” Fletcher said.
Moreover, the UN official said that he held a “useful” meeting with SAF leader, General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, in which they discussed getting “unlimited” and “unhindered” humanitarian access.
Fletcher also had “tough” talks with representatives from the RSF, during which he set forth “unequivocally” that the UN will be expecting the safe passage for civilians and aid convoys and insisting on accountability.
“We have, I think, a pretty strong agreement from the authorities [of the military government] in Port Sudan and the RSF on full access and safe passage for our convoys to go in and for civilians to get out. Now let’s see what happens next,” he said.
El-Fasher Situation
Fletcher touted progress on getting UN teams into El-Fasher, the capital city of North Darfur state, on the organization’s terms. “This is a potential crime scene, and we’ve got to make sure we’ve got the right people going in, and that the aid is genuinely neutral and impartial,” the UN official said.
After an 18-month siege, the RSF captured El-Fasher from SAF in October 2025, unleashing a wave of heinous attacks against civilians amid reports of mass killings and sexual violence.
In the light of this, Fletcher called the situation in El-Fasher a “horror show,” adding that Darfur has become the “epicenter of human suffering” in the world. He noted that the fall of El-Fasher to the RSF led to the displacement of nearly 900,000 people, with many people still trapped in the city.
“Many people clearly aren’t getting out of El Fasher,” the UN Humanitarian chief said. “One of the things we want to do when we go in is to find out why that is and to see what the conditions are, in which they are being held there,” he added.
Kordofan Battles
SAF-aligned forces have made advances in North Kordofan, entering the towns of Umm Sayala and Jabra Al-Sheikh while imposing a tight siege on Bara, Al-Arabiya reported on Monday citing military sources. Army soldiers circulated footages showing the battles, while the RSF denied the reports, saying that forces attacked an army unit and killed 470 soldiers.
The Kordofan region, which includes North, South, East and West Kordofan, serves as a strategic corridor that links Khartoum and central Sudan to Darfur. The RSF is pushing to seize Al-Obeid, a strategic city that hosts a key army airbase and acts as a buffer to the capital.
Meanwhile, the RSF is engaging in fierce battles with the SAF to capture the town of Babnusa, the army’s last stronghold in West Kordofan, according to Asharq Al-Awsat.
The war in Sudan, which broke out in April 2023, has brought the country closer to effective partition, as the SAF controls the center, north and east, while the RSF holds the entire Darfur region and parts of Kordofan, with each side declaring a government.
It has also killed tens of thousands of people, displaced over 14 million inside Sudan and to neighboring countries, and pushed parts of the country into famine amid cholera outbreaks.
Sudan’s Plea to EU
The representative of Sudan’s internationally-recognized government in Khartoum has called on the European Union (EU) to cut arms sale to the UAE. Abu Dhabi has faced mounting accusations of supporting the RSF with weapons and mercenaries – allegations that the UAE has consistently denied.
In an interview with Politico, Sudan’s ambassador to the EU, Abdelbagi Kabeir, said that European-made weapons end up in Sudan, fueling the atrocities and exacerbating the violence. In the light of this, Kabeir urged the EU countries to halt arms sales to the UAE and ensure their weapons do not reach war zones such as Sudan.
“The EU should weigh the moral balance over the trade balance,” he said. The Sudanese ambassador also urged the bloc to use its diplomatic weight to press Emirati officials “to cease sending weapons to the RSF,” warning of instability repercussions for EU countries. “What happens in sub-Saharan Africa, the impact shows in the Mediterranean,” he noted.
In response, an Emirati government official told Politico that his country “categorically rejects any claims of providing any form of support to either warring party since the onset of the civil war,” adding it “condemns atrocities committed by both” warring parties. He also argued that there is no substantial evidence on Abu Dhabi’s involvement in the conflict.
Meanwhile, the EU’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Anouar El-Anouni, urged third parties to stop supporting the two warring parties with weapons or funds, warning that the bloc will use its “diplomatic tools and instruments, including restrictive measures, to seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict,” he told Politico.
