In 2003, Darfur faced a rebellion by armed groups consisting primarily of Black African rebels, demanding greater autonomy and a fair share of the country’s resources. Rather than engaging in negotiations or direct combat with the rebels, the Khartoum government took a different approach. It supplied weapons to Arab militias in the region, giving them free rein to terrorize both rebels and civilians. This resulted in a devastating war, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and displacing millions of people who sought refuge in camps within Sudan and Chad. Eventually, Sudan’s president, al-Bashir, was charged by the International Criminal Court for his involvement in these war crimes.
Ironically, the same Arab militias, on which al-Bashir relied for a cost-effective “counterinsurgency,” played a significant role in his downfall. He incorporated these militias into the armed forces, forming a new paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces, with Mohamed Hamdan, also known as Hemeti, as its leader. Hemeti, along with army general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, joined forces to overthrow and arrest al-Bashir when a civilian protest movement gained momentum in 2019.
However, any hopes of restoring democratic governance in Sudan were shattered when the military brutally suppressed civilian protests and ousted a fragile transitional civilian government through a coup. Now, the two generals who toppled al-Bashir have turned against each other, leaving the Sudanese people trapped in the middle.
Hemeti has risen to become a powerful regional warlord, rumored to control gold mining operations and a profitable mercenary trade involving groups such as Russia’s Wagner Group. He holds strong ties to Arab militias that remain active in Darfur and has exploited the conflict to settle scores and seize land, livestock, and other assets from African tribes in the region. There is often a blurred line between tribal militias and the Rapid Support Forces, as many survivors have identified attackers wearing insignias associated with Hemeti’s troops.
These militias are now wreaking havoc in West Darfur, carrying out ruthless killings without consequence. According to Doctors Without Borders, over 100,000 Darfuris, mostly from the Masalit tribe, have sought refuge across the Chadian border. Conversations with these displaced individuals reveal the atrocities they have endured and provide insight into their desperate need for safety.
Within one of these camps, I had the opportunity to meet Salma Malick Adam, a 27-year-old woman whose life has been deeply impacted by violence and instability. As a child, Salma was forced to flee her hometown of Mistariha due to attacks by marauding janjaweed fighters when the Darfur crisis first erupted in 2003. Although her family eventually returned, the conflict persisted, and in 2020, they were once again forced to abandon Mistariha amidst renewed violence. They sought refuge in a displaced persons camp in El Geneina, leaving their sorghum and peanut fields behind.
Even within the camp, safety remained elusive. In April, militiamen attacked, unleashing a wave of looting, killing, torturing, and burning. Salma’s family became nomadic, continually moving from one neighborhood to another in an attempt to stay ahead of the violence. However, the situation in El Geneina deteriorated to the point where nowhere felt safe, prompting them to flee once more. Their journey to the Chadian border was fraught with danger as militiamen extorted bribes from Black civilians like Salma’s family.
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