Army arrests displaced activists in El Fasher camp amid evacuation calls

April 18, 2025 (EL FASHER) – Sudanese army troops and allied Joint Forces have arrested community leaders and activists in El Fasher’s Abu Shouk camp, a spokesperson for a Darfur displaced persons’ group said Friday, accusing them of blocking residents from fleeing intense shelling.

The arrests occurred in Abu Shouk camp, north of El Fasher, which has faced intense shelling by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since May 2024, spokesperson Adam Rijal said. The latest shelling was on Thursday, coinciding with calls from the RSF and allied groups for civilians to evacuate due to hundreds of casualties and infrastructure damage, according to Rijal’s statement.

Rijal, from the Coordination Committee for Displaced Persons and Refugees, said in the statement received by Sudan Tribune that “dozens” of displaced leaders and activists were arrested on Wednesday and Thursday.

Army intelligence and the Joint Forces allied to the army accused the detainees of inciting residents to flee towards safer areas like Tawila and of collaborating with the RSF, Rijal explained.

Rijal dismissed the charges as “baseless,” claiming the actual goal was “to suppress the displaced population and eliminate them.”

He accused the army and Joint Forces of preventing civilians from leaving Abu Shouk and using them as “human shields.”

The situation unfolds amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. An RSF siege has blocked aid and trade, forcing over 8,000 people to flee the city and camps towards Tawila in the past three weeks, according to displacement monitors.