THE SECOND THOUGHT

In late August, a landslide in Sudan’s Darfur region wiped an entire village off the map. More than 1,000 people were killed, with only one survivor. For most of us scrolling through the news, it barely registered. Yet this single tragedy is just one chapter in what the UN calls the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Sudan is in freefall, but the world seems hardly to notice.

Why is a county of 50 million people, now facing famine, war, and displacement on a scale not seen in decades, almost invisible in our feeds?

A Crisis in Plain Sight

The civil war that erupted in April 2023 has already displaced over 12 million people – more than Syria’s war at its peak. Almost half of Sudan’s population does not have enough food to eat. Cholera is spreading. In the displacement camp of Zamzam, aid workers say one child dies every two hours. 

Yet, despite these staggering numbers, Sudan is largely absent from the international conversation. Global headlines are dominated by the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, while Sudan is described by aid agencies as ‘the forgotten crisis’.

How Did Sudan Get Here?

The roots lie in the overthrow of long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019. Omar al-Bashir was forced out after mass protests, and his fall raised hopes of democracy. However, power struggles between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) derailed that dream.

What began as a dispute over whether the RSF should be merged into the army escalated into open war in 2023. Both sides are accused of atrocities. What they share is an unwillingness to cede power.

(see sidebars below: who are the RSF? / who are the SAF?)

Violence Unchecked

The RSF controls most of Darfur and much of Kordofan, while the army holds the north and east. Khartoum, once a bustling capital, is now a blackened shell of its former self – its ministries, banks, and airport reduced to rubble.

In El Fasher, the last major city in Darfur held by the army, a months-long siege has created famine conditions. Aid is blocked, hospitals overwhelmed, and civilians caught in the crossfire.

War crimes are documented on both sides: torture camps, drone strikes on hospitals, looted aid warehouses. Survivors speak of atrocities that echo the darkest chapters of Darfur’s past.

A Forgotten Tragedy

The Darfur landslide is symbolic of Sudan’s plight. A whole community vanished overnight – yet the disaster received little international coverage. Sudan is not forgotten because it is small, or insignificant. It is forgotten because it is complicated. Its confict does not fit neatly into good versus evil. It is messy, hard to explain, and far away from global centres of power.

But complexity is no excuse for silence.

Overridden by other conflicts

While Sudan’s crisis is catastrophic, it has unfolded in the shadows of other wars. The world’s attention span seems consumed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s war with the Hamas in Gaza. These conflicts dominate headlines, public debate, and political agendas – leaving little space for Sudan, no matter how severe its suffering.

There are reasons for this imbalance. Ukraine is on Europe’s doorstep and directly affects NATO, energy security, and Western economies. Israel-Gaza, meanwhile, touches on decades of history, religion and geopolitics. Both conflicts are seen as central to global order – and both generate strong emotion and political responses across Western societies.

Sudan, by contrast, feels distant. Its war is harder to explain: a struggle between two generals, both accused of atrocities, with no clear ‘good versus bad’ storyline. Reporters face danger and blackouts, so images and testimonies are scarce. And without constant footage or a simple moral frame, Sudan’s crisis struggles to cut through.But this imbalance also reflects bias: Wars in Europe or the Middle East are seen as urgent; wars in Africa are too often treated as background noise. The result is that millions of lives are at risk in Sudan — yet their suffering is eclipsed, overridden by conflicts elsewhere.

Why It Matters

Sudan’s war is not just a local crisis. It destabilises an already fragile region, risks another national split, and drives mass migration across Africa and beyond. It shows us the cost of global inattention: when the world looks away, famine and genocide creep back into the shadows.

What We Can Do, Even From Here

Awareness is a first step. Share what you know. Stay informed and share information on social media. Donate to charities and organisations that can provide vital support to civilians.

Who are the RSF?

• RSF (Rapid Support Forces) is a very powerful armed group in Sudan, created in 2013.
• They started from the Janjaweed militia, which was known for brutal attacks in Darfur.
• Today, they have around 100,000 fighters and act almost like their own small government.
• The RSF controls important resources like gold mines, making them rich and influential.
• They have fought in other countries’ conflicts and are said to get help from other countries, though this is denied.
• They currently control most of Darfur, parts of Kordofan, and areas near Sudan’s north.

Who are the SAF?

• SAF is Sudan’s official army, led by Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, controlling most of northern and eastern Sudan.
• Its main supporter is Egypt, with others including Turkey, Qatar, and Iran.
• The army’s base is in Port Sudan on the Red Sea, home to Sudan’s UN-recognised government.
• In March 2025, the SAF recaptured much of Khartoum, including the Presidential Palace, but the city is still badly damaged.
• They control Gezira state and El-Fasher in Darfur, though the RSF has laid siege, causing famine and a humanitarian crisis.
• Despite these gains, the war is largely a stalemate, with much of the country in ruins.