On the escalation of the war and the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan

B100542/2025

European Parliament resolution on the escalation of the war and the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan

(2025/2984(RSP))

The European Parliament,

–having regard to its previous resolutions on Sudan, in particular those of 15 June 2023 on the humanitarian situation in Sudan, in particular the death of children trapped by fighting, and of 13 March 2025 on the severe political, humanitarian and human rights crisis,

–having regard to the Commission’s humanitarian aid announcements for Sudan and neighbouring countries in 2024 and 2025,

–having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,

–having regard to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols,

–having regard to the efforts to mediate peace in Sudan, particularly those led by the African Union, the UN, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, Saudi Arabia and the United States,

–having regard to UN Security Council Resolutions 1556 (2004) and 2736 (2024), and to all other relevant UN Security Council resolutions concerning Sudan,

–having regard to the relevant resolutions of the UN Human Rights Council on the human rights situation in Sudan,

–having regard to Council Decisions (CFSP) 2024/383, 2024/1784, 2024/2655, 2024/3154, 2025/377 and 2025/1481 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Sudan,

–having regard to the Council conclusions on Sudan, approved by the Foreign Affairs Council at its meeting on 20 October 2025,

–having regard to the statement on Sudan of 20 November 2025 by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on behalf of the European Union,

–having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.whereas the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that began in April 2023 has evolved into the world’s biggest and gravest humanitarian and protection crisis, causing mass displacement (both internally and into neighbouring countries), food insecurity and widespread human rights violations;

B.whereas the RSF captured El Fasher on 26 October 2025, after an 18-month siege, triggering mass atrocities including summary executions, systematic sexual violence, torture and ethnically targeted killings;

C.whereas the UN has described RSF detention centres as slaughterhouses where detainees are beaten to death, summarily executed or subjected to forced labour;

D.whereas the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (IIFFM) for the Sudan has documented the use of rape as a particularly cruel weapon of war, including public sexual violence and gang rape, and the use of forced marriage, putting millions of people at risk of gender-based violence;

E.whereas in its report the IIFFM found that both parties to the conflict are violating international law, with the RSF having committed war crimes and crimes against humanity and the SAF having committed violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law that also amount to war crimes;

F.whereas both parties have weaponised humanitarian assistance, hampering free and unhindered access by humanitarian organisations to those in need;

G.whereas all countries involved in exerting external influence on Sudan are playing a major role in prolonging the conflict within the country;

H.whereas all parties to the conflict are violating international human rights and humanitarian law, with most violations amounting to war crimes; whereas the RSF’s conduct, including persecution and extermination, may also constitute crimes against humanity;

I.whereas large numbers of children in Sudan are unable to attend school as a result of ongoing closures and displacement, exposing them to heightened risks and denying them access to education;

J.whereas the EU has committed EUR 273 million to the region, including EUR 161 million specifically for Sudan;

K.whereas the EU continues to provide emergency life-saving aid that is needs-driven and guided by humanitarian principles to ensure immediate relief and protection for the most vulnerable populations, and to respond to the severe food security and nutrition crisis in the country and provide humanitarian support for basic services;

L.whereas the humanitarian crisis in Sudan is severely affected by the reduction in international humanitarian funding;

M.whereas the war is sometimes considered a proxy war in which Sudan has become the battlefield for competition for natural resources such as gold, gum arabic, iron ore, copper and uranium;

1.Strongly condemns the ongoing conflict in Sudan, which, for a third consecutive year, continues to cause the loss of thousands of lives and immense hardship for the Sudanese people and poses a serious threat to stability and security across the wider region;

2.Condemns the serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed by all parties to the conflict;

3.Reaffirms Sudan’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity;

4.Stresses that the primary responsibility for ending the conflict rests with the leadership of the RSF, the SAF and their allied militias, and with those providing them with direct or indirect support; urges all external actors to take the necessary measures to end the sale or supply of arms and related material to all parties, as per the arms embargo established by UN Security Council Resolutions 1556 and 1591;

5.Expresses deep concern over external interference in the internal affairs of Sudan and calls for an immediate end to the recruitment of mercenaries and the provision of supplies and military or logistical support to the RSF and allied militias;

6.Demands the immediate cessation of hostilities and calls on all parties to engage in meaningful dialogue to end the conflict and establish a transition to civilian democratic governance; calls on all third-party actors to support diplomatic actions to secure a cessation of hostilities;

7.Calls for the rule of law, accountability, respect for international law, including international humanitarian law and human rights law, and justice to be restored and strengthened within the country;

8.Calls for immediate, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to all affected populations, wherever they are, and demands that both parties cease the weaponisation of aid; urges all parties to the conflict to remove all barriers hindering the delivery of humanitarian assistance without delay, and to ensure immediate, unconditional, safe and unhindered humanitarian access, cease deliberate obstruction and protect civilians; calls for support to be provided to neighbouring countries hosting Sudanese refugees;

9.Expresses deep concern at the alarming deterioration of the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, as the conflict has led to and continues to fuel the most severe global humanitarian catastrophe, with confirmed famine in parts of the country; expresses concern, too, at the effects of mass migration to neighbouring countries;

10.Urges all parties to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law and human rights law by using every possible means to protect civilians and civilian objects; is particularly concerned by the alarming reports of an unprecedented level of violence and attacks against civilians, including sexual and gender-based violence, rape as a method of warfare, and the serious impacts of the conflict on women and girls;

11.Calls for the protection and safe passage of civilians, an end to starvation as a method of warfare, an end to gender-based and sexual violence as a weapon of war and an end to ransom-based abductions, and calls on all parties to allow cross-line and cross-border humanitarian access, including through neighbouring countries;

12.Highlights the grave risk that the conflict in Sudan will spill over to other vulnerable regions, such as the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, and is gravely concerned by the effects of the Sudanese crisis on irregular migration flows towards Europe;

13.Urges the Council and Commission to maintain and increase the EU’s humanitarian commitment of EUR 273 million for Sudan and the region, ensuring that funds reach those most in need;

14.Demands that the perpetrators be held to account without delay; calls for the EU and the Member States to support the expansion of the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction and the establishment of an independent judicial mechanism, as recommended by the UN IIFFM;

15.Urges all parties to the conflict to engage constructively in inclusive ceasefire negotiations and highlights the urgent need for a credible and inclusive mediation process; urges all external actors who, whether directly or indirectly, are supplying arms, financial support or support of any other kind to the warring parties to immediately cease such support and to comply with the UN arms embargo;

16.Condemns all forms of external interference that fuel the conflict in Sudan, including arms transfers, the provision of mercenaries, gold-smuggling and money-laundering networks, and stresses that such actions gravely undermine Sudan’s sovereignty and potential for civilian transition;

17.Calls for comprehensive arms embargoes to be imposed on all parties and urges the Council to impose targeted sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for international crimes;

18.Emphasises that accountability is a legal and moral imperative; stresses that justice cannot wait and that the international community must act decisively to prosecute those responsible under international law;

19.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the African Union, the United Nations Secretary-General, the UN Human Rights Council, the International Criminal Court, and the authorities of Sudan.