IOM: thousands continue to flee El Fasher despite insecure roads

November 9, 2025 (EL FASHER) – Thousands of people are continuing to be displaced from El Fasher in North Darfur state despite the lack of security on the roads, the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Sunday.

Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters are deployed in villages and areas around El Fasher, where they detain people and demand ransoms from their families for their release, reaching up to 5 million pounds, according to reports. They are also accused of committing killings and sexual violence against civilians.

“An additional 7,075 individuals were displaced from El Fasher due to growing insecurity,” the IOM stated in a bulletin.

It noted that the displaced are fleeing to Tawila, Mellit, and Saraf Omra localities in North Darfur.

The organization explained that field teams reported severe insecurity along the roads, which restricts movement.

The newly displaced, who fled El Fasher between November 5 and 8, have raised the number of people who have fled the city to 88,892 since the RSF took control of it, the statement said.

The RSF captured El Fasher on Oct. 26, after the army and its allies withdrew from the city, which they had defended for 18 months despite a cut-off of supplies and food due to the ongoing siege.

More than one million people have been displaced from El Fasher since the RSF attack on it began on May 11, 2024. Most fled to Tawila, which now hosts 665,000 displaced persons, while the rest went to various areas in Darfur and to El-Debba in Northern Sudan.