Displacement camps swell with people fleeing Sudan’s war-ravaged el-Fasher

Satellites show one camp spanning 500,000 square metres near the city of al-Dabba, as tens of thousands seek refuge.Published On 31 Dec 2025Several displacement camps have emerged and are quickly filling with people who fled Sudan’s devastated and largely emptied city of el-Fasher, which the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized in an atrocity-ridden campaign in October.One camp has been established in the small town of Qarni, northwest of el-Fasher, according to satellite images reviewed by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency. Between December 14 and December 29, the camp expanded by 13,000 square metres (140,000sq ft), bringing its total area to about 199,000 square metres (15,550sq yard), according to the satellite data.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Is peace in Sudan possible?list 2 of 3‘No negotiation, no truce’ with RSF, says senior Sudan officiallist 3 of 3UN renews Sudan ceasefire appeal over ‘unimaginable suffering’ of civiliansend of listAn even larger camp for the displaced from el-Fasher has expanded in Sudan’s Northern State, about 700km (435 miles) away. El-Afadh camp, near the city of al-Dabba, now covers at least 500,000 square metres (0.2sq miles), after growing 370,000 square metres (0.14sq miles) since November 19, according to satellite data analysed by Sanad.The imagery confirms the flow of tens of thousands of newly displaced people from the latest chapter of Sudan’s 32-month brutal war. According to the UN, 107,000 people have been displaced from el-Fasher and surrounding areas since late October, when the RSF seized the city and carried out ethnically motivated mass killings, sexual assaults and detentions, according to survivors.Nabiha Islam, a physician who volunteered at the camp in al-Dabba for several weeks earlier in December, said resources were scarce as thousands of traumatised refugees arrived during her time there.