Sudan’s people endure ‘horror and hell’ in war, says UN rights chief 

United Nations rights chief Volker Turk says the war in Sudan has put its people through “horror and hell”, as Sudan’s population continues to face acute food insecurity and displacement.

During his first visit to Sudan since the war began in April 2023, Turk said it was “despicable” that funds that “should be used to alleviate the suffering of the population” were instead spent on advanced weapons, especially drones.

The UN has repeatedly warned of the involvement of foreign actors in Sudan’s civil war.

The United Arab Emirates has been repeatedly accused of supplying the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) with weapons, support and political backing despite Abu Dhabi’s consistent denial.

Meanwhile, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) is backed by Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The army has also reportedly received arms, including drones, from Iran and Turkiye.

But Turk said from Port Sudan, on Sudan’s Red Sea coast, that the country was facing “the increasing militarisation of society by all parties to the conflict, including through the arming of civilians and recruitment and use of children”.

In 2023, the country was plunged into a deadly civil war after the SAF and RSF fought to secure power.

The UN rights chief explained that he had heard testimony of “unbearable” atrocities from survivors of attacks in Darfur, warning of similar crimes taking place in the current epicentre of the fighting, the Kordofan region.

He said that the testimonies must be heard by “the commanders of this conflict and those who are arming, funding and profiting from this war”.

“We must ensure that the perpetrators of these horrific violations face justice regardless of the affiliation,” Turk said, warning that repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure could constitute “war crimes”.

The UN chief called on both sides to “cease intolerable attacks against civilian objects that are indispensable to the civilian population, including markets, health facilities, schools and shelters”.

Both sides in the conflict have been accused of committing war crimes, but there has been a particular focus on the RSF, which was accused by monitoring groups of killing at least 1,500 people in its October capture of el-Fasher in Darfur.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in 2025, 30.4 million people, out of a population of 46.8 million, in Sudan are in need of humanitarian assistance.

The population is facing an acute food insecurity and a nutrition crisis, especially in the Darfur and Kordofan regions. At the same time, disease outbreaks are worsening the situation.

Moreover, Sudan is dealing with the world’s largest displacement crisis, with an estimated 13.6 million people displaced by the ongoing fighting.