Sudan's Heglig Oilfield Falls to RSF, Triggering New Wave of Displacement in 'World's Largest' Crisis

Strategic Oil Hub Captured

A fresh wave of displacement is sweeping across Sudan after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized the strategic Heglig oilfield in West Kordofan province. According to reports, the RSF took control of the key economic area in early December 2025 following the withdrawal of the rival Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The development has forced hundreds of families to flee, exacerbating an already catastrophic humanitarian situation.

"I Gave Birth in the Street"

Nearly 1,700 people, the majority of them women and children, escaped the fighting and lack of basic necessities, undertaking an arduous journey to the Gos Alsalam displacement camp in Kosti, a city in White Nile province. They arrived with almost nothing. "We left without anything… we just took some clothes," one elderly woman told reporters.

Conditions in the camp are described as extremely harsh, with insufficient humanitarian support to meet even basic needs as the population swells. "We have no blankets or any sheets, nothing," said another displaced woman. The crisis is perhaps best captured by the story of Umm Azmi, who went into labor on the road. "I gave birth in the street—the condition is very difficult," she recalled, sitting next to her newborn. "I had just given birth, and I had nothing to eat. Sometimes we eat anything we find in the streets."

A Nation on the Brink

The latest displacement is a grim chapter in Sudan's devastating conflict. Nearly three years of war between the RSF and SAF have killed tens of thousands, forced 14 million people from their homes, and left 21 million facing acute hunger. The United Nations has labeled the situation in the country as the world's largest humanitarian crisis, a crisis that continues to deepen with each strategic area that falls.