On June 15, 2023, a young man named Ali was recovering from a gunshot wound in a makeshift medical clinic within El Geneina, Sudan. Later on in the day, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) would find the clinic. They would release fire, killing everyone but two: Ali, narrowly escaping by pretending dead, and a woman, wounded from the guns. For ten hours, they would be waiting, surrounded by the corpses of the clinic’s patients and workers, praying for rescue. At 5 PM, another group of armed men would find them. One of the men smashed their hand onto Ali’s broken leg, and Ali begged for them to stop and kill him, to end his pain. The soldier would respond, saying “We won’t kill you! We want to torture you! We got rid of most of your family, and no one is here to care for you.” 

Ali’s story is one of what thousands of Sudanese are living like within the Sudan War. Since April of 2023, this nation has been in a conflict that has left millions of citizens displaced, poverty-stricken, or dead. Over the fight of control between two rival military leaders, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), miscommunication eventually lead to the eruption of brutal attacks between these forces, attacks that began falling onto unarmed, innocent civilians in regions such as El Geneina and Western Darfur. These attacks have massacred many, brutally killing men, women, old, and young. From a recent mortality survey by Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, MSF), the mortality rate of 241 per 10,000 people marked an astonishing 23-fold increase in male mortality rate and an 11-fold increase in female mortality rates since 2023 [1]. 

Today, the conflicts between these groups have caused the ultimate collapse and transformation of Sudan into the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Despite all of the tragedies certain Sudanese groups are facing, there has been an alarmingly silent response from the world. While European and Middle Eastern crises receive widespread attention, Sudan has been pushed into the background in comparison. This is nothing new; African suffering is constantly being ignored, an outcome due to a globally racial and demographic bias to African states, leaving these regions severely underfunded and unrepresented. Because they are so ignored, the RSF can continue the persecution of these certain ethnic groups and will continue until they achieve their ideal nation. Essentially, the Sudan War is a prime example of the extent corrupt leaders do for economic and political stance even in the exchange of human life, and the reality of the world’s choice in mobilizing for certain crises and not others.             

Sudan’s Historical Background

In reality, Sudan’s history has never been completely peaceful. Starting in 1956, after Egypt and the United Kingdom signed a treaty to give up control in sharing Sudan, the Republic of Sudan became a fully independent nation. Nevertheless, from previously being shared by Egypt and the UK, the Republic of Sudan split into two divisions: a wealthier northern region consisting of Arabs and Muslims, and an under-developed southern region consisting of Christians and African groups. The divisions between the north and the south resulted in two deadly civil wars, forever leaving unresolved tensions between these religious and ethnic groups. Specifically, under Omar al-Bashir’s authoritarian reign, the Second Sudanese War was a conflict of northern Arab-Islam and southern Black African groups over the north’s wants to impose Islamic law and control oil-producing regions. During this war, Omar al-Bashir consolidated control by creating Janjaweed militia to suppress rebel movements in places such as Darfur, causing the Janjaweed militias to massacre and target non-Arab African communities. It was in Omar al-Bashir’s creation of this militia that would later formalize into the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) under Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo. In the incoming years, al-Bashir would receive less and less support for causing poverty, repression, and corruption, eventually being forcefully removed in a joint coup by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan of the SAF and Hemedti of the RSF. To re-establish the government, Abdalla Hamdok was appointed as the prime minister of Sudan in 2019. However, Hamdok impacted the nation negatively, constantly interfering with military matters, causing international aid suspensions, and further lowered Sudan’s government status. Because of all this nation-wide unrest, al-Burhan and Hemedti began their rise to the topmost military figures of Sudan, each with their own vision of Sudan’s future [2].

In 2022, discussions between the SAF and RSF over the future of Sudan’s government still persisted. Eventually, the December 2022 Deal called for a transition to a civilian-led government, a unified military, and national elections. At first, the RSF and SAF worked to negotiate a plan for the transitional government, with Hemedti being upgraded to Burhan’s equal status. While the original goal was for a strong central military and government, Hemedti envisioned things differently. He believed in not a fair, unified government for all, but one predominately controlled by the RSF, with their full influence over the gold trade, government, and accepted ethnic groups [3]. Burhan and Hemedti’s conflicting views began stalling Sudan’s transitional efforts, with miscommunication on a 2023 deadline for determining conditions of the proposed shift to a central government and military. On April 15th, SAF and RSF troops were deployed in the city Khartoum, causing the first firings of the Sudan War and a continued bloodshed over Sudan’s control. 

Sudan’s Humanitarian Crisis

Given the history leading to the current Sudan War, it’s clear that the ultimate cause was in Hemedti and the RSF’s criminal choice to pursue their own political, economic, and ethnical ideologies over the value of human life. The RSF’s behavior is observed to be a parallel of the Mahdist Army ruling Sudan from 1866 to 1899. In this era, under Abdulahi al-Ta’aishi’s reign, nearly half of Sudan’s population was wiped out from massacres and famine because of al-Ta’aishi’s wish of Mahdist authority in governance, taxation, and religion. These groups are both similar in using corrupt methods for political dominance under their respective militaries, with the RSF being objectively crueler in their ways of targeting non-Arab black ethnicities [4]. Alongside the RSF’s goal in the “ethnic cleansing” of Sudan, a main motivation for power was Sudan’s gold reserves. In Africa, Sudan is known to be the largest exporter of gold, with an estimate of 40 tons produced in 2023. Only a tenth of the gold exports go to Sudan’s treasury – the rest resides in the hands of the RSF and SAF military, the acquisition of weaponry, and foreign allies. For example, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia are essential in supplying the RSF with military necessities, causing them to be involved negatively in Sudan’s humanitarian crisis [5]. After the overthrow of the prime minister Hamdok, the RSF are already close in full possession of the gold trade main places of Darfur and Kordofan, further fueling their corrupt desires and justification of unmoral actions onto the groups in those areas.   

Currently, in 2025, the extent of the RSF’s corruption in Sudan is utterly devastating. Since the beginning of the war in 2023, 12 million citizens have been displaced to neighboring countries of Chad, South Sudan, Egypt, etc., causing families to be torn apart from one another [6]. In October 2025, a satellite scan was completed by Yale Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) in North Darfur. From these satellite imagery, various large, crimson-colored spots can be seen surrounding an RSF-controlled children’s hospital in El-Fasher, a city in North Darfur. Horrifyingly, these spots grew larger the next day, evidenced to represent bloodied, dead bodies [7]. These vile attacks, primarily taking place in Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum, have permanently altered the lives of these non-Arab African groups. In many regions of Sudan, survivors of the war describe their tragic first-hand experiences of this misfortunate war:

El al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha are some of my favorite memories, celebrating them in our encampment. My whole family would get together during these holidays...Now, during this war, when I think of these memories, I just cry…I was a medical assistant, and loved hanging out with my colleagues…And memories with my kids! We’d take them to amusement parks, or anywhere we could play together…such beautiful memories to hold on to during this war. (Yasser, 45, Wad Madani) [8].

They shot at us from all directions…I watched my friends die in front of me…The RSF fighters…asked us to lie down on the ground…Two RSF fighters opened fire on us…They killed 17 of the 20 men I was fleeing with. The RSF were killing people as if they were flies. It was a massacre. None of the people killed I have seen were armed soldiers. (Daoud, 19, and Khali, 34, El Fasher) [9].

One of them forced me to go with them, cut my Jalabiya [a traditional robe], and raped me. When they left, my 14-year-old daughter came to me. I found that her clothes had blood and were cut into pieces. Her hair at the back of her head was full of dust…She came to me and said, ‘Mum, they raped me too, but do not tell anyone.’ After the rape, my daughter really became sick…When we reached Tawila, her health deteriorated, and she died at the clinic. (Ibtisam, El Fasher) [9].

These are four of millions of Sudanese citizens affected by the bloodshed of this war, and still thousands more that did not live to tell their stories. In exchange for absolute authority, the RSF has enforced brutal attacks to fulfill their unmoral goals. In the past, it was the oil trade that caused the slaughter of millions of Sudanese [10]; in modern times, the greed of controlling the gold-trade, political stance, and ethnic cleansing stain the grounds of Sudan bloody. The wars from Sudan’s past should’ve been valuable lessons in avoiding corruption overtaking national interest, yet this current Sudan War is a repeated cycle of this nation falling to ruin from political figures enforcing personal, malicious interests that ignore concepts of morality, unity, and humanity. 

The Lack of Global Attention and Support

In this world, alongside Sudan, there are various nations facing humanitarian crises within their own country. In the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestine conflict, caused over the ownership of Jerusalem, West Bank, and other land masses, has left the city and 1.9 million citizens of Gaza displaced in wreckage [11]. In Europe, the Russia and Ukraine War continues over the resistance of Ukraine’s freedom, with reports of Ukrainians seeking refugee from executions, torture, and rape [12]. Internationally, nations work to provide countries facing humanitarian crises with funds to support the affected groups. While this should be the case, global trends indicate that certain nations, primarily African states, do not receive the same response compared to other nations when faced with a humanitarian crisis, a reaction related to geographical, political, and racial bias. 

To analyze the extent media representations align with the severity of a crisis, the Humanitarian Crisis Coverage Report created a study on the average number of media narratives produced every day on ten humanitarian crisis, nations being Gaza, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Sudan, Syria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Yemen, and Chad. In order, the results are as follows: 58.5, 19.43, 6.45, 2.57, 2.06, 1.46, 0.96, 0.67, 0.51, 0.06. Combined with additional data from the experiment, this study concludes that crises attracting the most media attention do not align with the severity of the crises itself. This arises the concept of “selective empathy”, a problem where crises only become important to nations when it benefits their editorial and ideological frameworks [13]. Because of African states faraway geopolitical location and limited representation politically, powerful countries often lack an interest in funding humanitarian crises in these states, reflecting the world’s unequal responses to humanitarian crises. A growing number of experts and individuals involved within the Sudan Crisis express their observations on the prejudiced matter:  

Not only are Africa populations keenly aware of the time, resources, and high-level attention directed at Gaza and Ukraine, they are aware of the disparity between that level of effort and concern and the much quieter attempt to address the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, which is Sudan. This becomes part of a broader narrative about disrespect and disregard. (Michelle Gavin, The Council of Foreign Relations) [14]. 

Experts are asking whether global humanitarian system is not just financially broke, but also fundamentally broken. (Fred Harter, East African journalist) [14]. 

Too many crises across the continent remain in the shadows – ignored because they don’t make headlines, or because they are not seen as of immediate strategic interest to international partners…Crises that knock on Europe’s door…tend to receive the greatest media attention, while those far away remain not only out of sight but also out of mind. (Christelle Hure, NRC’s Head of Advocacy in West and Central Africa) [15].

Clearly, the limited attention on Sudan’s humanitarian crisis is not accidental, but a reflection of this biased system in which nations form a hierarchy of interests based on the crises relevance to their own benefits. In recent studies and news reports, we can see how the numbers show lack of funding towards Sudan. In 2024, Sudan was ranked 168th in terms of GDP per capita, with 70% of the population unassisted in hunger-related aid [16]. To raise support for those affected in the crises, the United Nations, along with the International Committee of the Red Cross and other Islamic relief agencies, have worked to provide $1.8 billion in support to millions of people in Sudan. Still, funding shortfalls persist, with only 28% of Sudan’s citizens funded for. This is likely because of various global aid reductions, including the cut of the U.S. Agency for International Development by the Trump administration. This agency was crucial in providing billions of humanitarian aid to Sudan yet was cut for self-interests [17]. 

For years, Sudan’s citizens fall victim to the silent and limited responses of aid from the world because of their “unimportance” to foreign nations. As cruel as it is, we live in a world where countries political stance and ideologies matter more than the motivation to equally support all nations in need. For decades, Africa has suffered from violence, famine, and lack of resources on a greater level than majority of the world, to the point where these crises like Sudan are seen as normalized for the African nation. If society had worked together from the beginning in seeing Africa as an equal, this nation wouldn’t be to the collapse it is today. But because of longstanding prejudices against the African people, the selective empathy of this world chooses to ignore crises like Sudan, further allowing the slaughter of this nation’s people. 

Sudan’s Future

In the coming decades, it’s difficult to predict Sudan’s fate; will the RSF have reshaped Sudan to their political and ethnical liking? Will a foreign nation or military arise in the interests of reigning Sudan? Or will Sudan, accumulating on this built-up ruin of corruption, murder, and poverty, self-collapse into a point of no recovery? We can’t see what the future of Sudan will become, but what we can see is the tragedies of Sudan’s past. Since 1956, when this nation was first established as its own, various wars founded on personal interests of greed, political power, and national divide have plagued Sudan, all ending in the same way: a temporary winner with a shattered nation contaminated with fear, hunger, blood, and chaos behind them. These wars, so atrocious in their scale, reached nationwide attention, with hopes of aid to affected civilians. But in these rich nations, governments comfortably watch behind the screens, diverting attention only towards crises benefiting their selfish political needs.

The nature of wars, like Sudan's War, will always end in the sacrifice of peace in the nation. By unfortunate luck, these Sudanese citizens were born into this life of war and ruin. This nation needs peace, and we can only hope that in understanding Sudan’s past disasters, Sudan’s future will bring nations to collaborate and moral, selfless leaders to unite in the goal of a flourishing, joyful life of its people. 

This longing for peace is written beautifully in a poem by Anek Majak Amuom, a South Sudanese woman [18]: 

God created my mother’s love as peace, not smoke but beautiful ailé’s breeze at an abundance.
My mother’s peace is not smoke of gurnets and machine guns at a daily basis.
My lost mother’s peace is not fill the nation with graveyards
My lost mother’s love of peace is not seeing blood of men, women, and children.
but of peaceful smiles of harmony, justice, and
Prosperity of a lifetime.