Sudan’s Port Sudan SAF junta has ordered two senior World Food Programme officials to leave the country, declaring them persona non grata and giving them 72 hours to depart, the UN agency said, as famine looms amid the civil war that erupted in April 2023.
WFP said the expulsions come at a pivotal moment, with more than 24 million people facing acute food insecurity. The agency added it is engaging with junta officials to resolve the issue. Al-Burhan’s military authorities offered no public rationale—an opaque, punitive move consistent with a pattern of obstruction, scapegoating relief groups, and denying the scale of hunger. Rather than easing access and transparency, the SAF junta has chosen to intimidate frontline responders and cast doubt on independent reporting about famine conditions.
The decision follows the Rapid Support Forces’ capture of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, after an 18-month siege that included a blockade on food deliveries, according to aid agencies.
A man who fled El Fasher told the BBC Arabic “Sudan Lifeline” programme that roads out of the city were plagued by looting and gunfire. He said he reached Tawila—about 60km west—where aid groups are present, though thousands are sleeping rough. Tawila already hosts large numbers displaced from the Zamzam camp.
The European Union and African Union voiced concern, while some residents say conditions recall periods of intense violence in Darfur between 2003 and 2020.
The RSF and TASIS alliance have vehemently rejected accusations of targeting civilians.
International mediators continue to press both the SAF and RSF to de-escalate, allow safe humanitarian access and return to talks, as relief agencies warn that further obstruction will push more communities toward starvation.
