The city of El Fasher in Darfur has recently been captured by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a Sudanese militia that had besieged the city for 18 months. Since then, reports of civilian massacres along ethnic lines have emerged, as inhabitants attempt to flee.

In early 2025, the UN called the current civil war in Sudan, which began in 2023, the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis.

As the situation continues, these McGill experts are available to comment:

Khalid Mustafa Medani, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies and Chair of the African Studies Program, specializes in globalization and the political economy of Islamist and Ethnic Politics in Africa and the Middle East, with a special focus on Sudan, Egypt and Somalia. He can talk about all aspects of the war in Sudan.

khalid.medani [at] mcgill.ca (English)

Jon Unruh, Professor, Department of Geography, can talk about what the recent advances by the RSF in Darfur mean for the civilian population as a whole and for different sectors of the population; the mass forced dislocation and the prospect of famine; the migrations of the displaced population to elsewhere in Sudan and as refugees to neighbouring states.

jon.unruh [at] mcgill.ca (English)