The ongoing Sudanese Civil War has garnered little attention, yet its consequences reach far and wide. The conflict has displaced tens of millions of civilians, quickly becoming one of the worst humanitarian disasters of the twenty-first century. In an era of conflict, the scope of the ongoing violence in Sudan requires attention.
“[T]here’s not necessarily enough knowledge about Sudan, about Congo. A lot of people don’t even understand. […] And maybe that’s because of the fact that black suffering is normalized,” Ryan Lewis, a fourth-year Global Studies major and President of Drexel’s NAACP said.
According to the International Rescue Committee, since the conflict began in April 2023, 12 million of Sudan’s population have been displaced, with 30.4 million requiring some kind of humanitarian aid. The nearly three-year conflict pits two government factions against each other: the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. The BBC has noted the leaders of the two sides had previously worked together in overthrowing the previous president of Sudan in 2021, but disagreements about which side would control the government have resulted in the current conflict.
“It is political, and it is actually within factions of the military government. There are rebels running around there, but you have the government fighting itself here, which is very abnormal for a civil war,” Drexel professor Meg Guliford from the Department of Politics, who specializes in the study of political violence, told The Triangle.
Violence is not an uncommon occurrence in the region, with the worst of the conflict being centered around the Darfur region in Sudan. The International Criminal Court charged Sudanese leaders in 2005 with genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity for actions taken against the people of Darfur between 2002 and 2003. Only one person charged by the ICC has been taken into custody and found guilty, with the verdict coming down only in October 2025.
“[V]iolence is very much embedded in the fabric of this region [and] is largely political,” Guliford continued.
Innocent civilians have often found themselves in the crosshairs of these conflicts. The most notable in the current conflict is in the city of el-Fasher, situated within the Darfur region. Yale University’s Human Research Lab found evidence of mass killings in the city, analyzing satellite imagery that revealed ground discoloration that could be consistent with blood. This, according to the lab, is consistent with behavior shown by the RSF. El-Fasher was laid siege for nearly 20 months by the RSF, with the Sudanese Army eventually withdrawing in late October 2025, according toAl Jazeera.
“Civilians in a civil war are always key, because each side needs civilian support in order to even come close to victory. […] But also, violence against civilians is ubiquitous in civil wars. [I]t always happens,” said Guliford.
With millions displaced and continued violence against civilians, some students say they have limited awareness or up-to-date information about Sudan’s crisis. Although following global events can be challenging, access to reliable information is key. Sinclair Lewis’ novel “It Can’t Happen Here” discusses the drastic consequences of remaining ill-informed.