UN demands release of aid workers held in Sudan
August 31, 2026 (NEW YORK) – The United Nations on Monday called for the immediate and unconditional release of humanitarian staff detained by armed groups in Sudan, warning that arbitrary arrests are crippling relief operations for millions facing famine.
The appeal comes on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, an annual U.N. observance marked on Aug. 30.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) holds detainees across Darfur, including at the Digeis detention centre, without charge, access to legal counsel, or family notification. Militia groups allied with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have also run unofficial detention sites.
“The detention of humanitarian workers by armed groups is unacceptable; they must be released immediately and unconditionally,” U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan Denise Brown said in a statement.
Brown did not identify the factions holding the relief staff or give figures on how many workers were in custody.
She said rising detentions without due process violate international humanitarian law, endanger aid personnel, and obstruct emergency operations across the country.
U.N. experts previously documented 2,309 verified cases of enforced disappearance linked to the conflict that erupted in April 2023, estimating that the real figure exceeds 50,000 victims, including civil society activists and relief workers.
Sudan’s Interior Ministry said on Sunday its civilian protection body would step up efforts to trace and document the missing.
Separately, the Sudanese Journalists Syndicate called for the release of five missing reporters, including Magdi Youssef and Mohamed Hussein Shalabi, who disappeared during an RSF assault on the North Darfur capital of El Fasher in October 2025.
Both the military and the RSF have set up arbitrary checkpoints across roads and urban hubs, searching phones and detaining civilians on suspicion of collaborating with opposing forces, human rights monitors say.