Sudan el-Fasher Displacement Crisis 2025: Satellite Data Reveals Expanding Camps

Once the vibrant heart of North Darfur, el-Fasher has become a shadow of its former self. As of December 31, 2025, new satellite imagery confirms a harrowing reality: as the city empties, massive displacement camps are surfacing across Sudan to house those fleeing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Survivors report a campaign of mass killings and sexual assaults that has turned the urban center into a "crime scene."

Sudan el-Fasher Displacement Crisis 2025: Tracking the Footprint of Atrocity

Analysis from Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency highlights the staggering speed of camp expansion. In the town of Qarni, northwest of el-Fasher, a camp grew by 13,000 square metres in just two weeks this December. Its total area now stands at approximately 199,000 square metres.

Even more alarming is the el-Afadh camp in the Northern State. Located 700km away from the conflict zone, it has expanded by 370,000 square metres since November 19. It now covers at least 500,000 square metres. The UN estimates that 107,000 people have been uprooted from the region since the RSF takeover in late October.

A Global Humanitarian Emergency

UN aid coordinator Denise Brown recently described el-Fasher as a "ghost" town where conditions remain precarious for those few who stayed. The broader conflict, which erupted in April 2023, has killed over 100,000 and displaced 14 million people, creating what the international community calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

The RSF's push into the Kordofan region suggests the violence isn't subsiding. Agencies warn that without a ceasefire in Kadugli, the atrocities witnessed in Darfur are likely to repeat.