3.1.1. Non-Arabs/Africans from Darfur

COMMON ANALYSIS
Last update: June 2025

This sub-profile refers firstly to individuals belonging to one of the three largest ‘non-Arab’ (or ‘African’) ethnic groups originating from Darfur, namely the Fur, the Zaghawa and the Masalit. The risk of persecution of individuals from other non-Arab groups is also assessed, including Borgo, Dajo, Erenga and Tama groups. 

Estimates indicate that non-Arab (or ‘African’) groups represent between two-thirds and three-quarters of the Darfur population.

Although the ethnic targeting predates the April 2023 outbreak of the hostilities, the ongoing conflict has led to an escalation of the violence against non-Arab minorities.

The Fur, the Zaghawa, and the Masalit composed the majority of the former rebel Darfuri groups that have taken part in the current conflict, mainly supporting the SAF and its allies.  For additional information, please refer to 2. Actors of persecution or serious harm.

  Step 1: Do the reported acts amount to persecution?  

Acts to which persons falling under this profile could be exposed are of a such severe nature that they would amount to persecution.

Multiple sources and some governmental institutions labelled the events unfolding in Darfur as ‘ethnic cleansing’ campaigns or genocide. In January 2025, the US administration has formally declared that the RSF has perpetrated genocide and crimes against humanity in Sudan.

Sources reported that much of the violence in Darfur is attributed to the RSF and its allied militias, and it is ethnically-driven as the RSF follows a ‘racist Arab supremacist ideology’, seeking to push non-Arabs out of certain areas. Examples of ethnically-driven acts against non-Arab individuals and groups include mass killings, summary executions, torture, body mutilations, illegal detentions, forced displacements, attacks on IDP camps and villages and harassments as well as lootings, pillage and destructions of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population. These acts have been reported in Darfur, notably in West Darfur and North Darfur where the Masalit and the Zaghawa respectively have been targeted by the RSF. Reports also indicate that women and girls from African tribes, such as Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa have been subjected to forced displacement and sexual violence, used as an ethnic cleansing tool by the RSF and allied militias. For more details, please refer to 3.9.1. Violence against women and girls.

In North Darfur, reports show that RSF’s attacks and bombings on localities and IDP camps follow a pattern of ethnically-motivated targeting of non-Arab groups, particularly the Zaghawa and the Fur. Finally, ethnically-motivated violence against non-Arab communities originally from Darfur has been reported in other parts of Sudan, such as Al Jazirah.

  Step 2: What is the level of risk of persecution?  

A well-founded fear of persecution would in general be substantiated for individuals belonging to non-Arab Darfuri groups residing in Darfur, in particular the Masalit, the Zaghawa and the Fur, as they face targeting by the RSF and its allies.

For individuals belonging to non-Arab Darfuri groups, residing outside Darfur, the individual assessment of whether there is a reasonable degree of likelihood for an individual to face persecution, should take into account risk-impacting circumstances, such as:

• Political profile/visibility: individuals from a non-Arab group with a political profile or a visible role or profession (such as academics, lawyers, Imams, human rights activists) in their community are more likely to be targeted. For more details, please refer to 3.5. Community leaders, human rights activists, and lawyers.

• Displacement: individuals who have been forcibly displaced are more likely to be targeted with ethnically-driven violence.

• Gender: due to the general situation of women and girls in Sudan and, in particular in Darfur where sexual violence has been used as a weapon of war by the RSF and its allies, non-Arab/’African’ women and girls are at higher risk. Please refer to 3.9.1. Violence against women and girls.

• Age: young individuals are more likely to be targeted on an ethnical basis.

• Area of origin or residence: individuals originating or residing in areas taken or retaken by the RSF are exposed to a higher risk also because of their perceived affiliation with the SAF.

  Step 3: Is there a ground for persecution?  

Where well-founded fear of persecution is substantiated for individuals under this sub-profile, this is highly likely to be for reasons of race. Most of the violence in Darfur is ethnically-driven as the RSF follows a ‘racist Arab supremacist ideology’, seeking to push non-Arabs out of certain areas.

Persecution may also be for reasons of (imputed) political opinion, as individuals belonging to a non-Arab ethnic minority are perceived as supporters of the opposing warring party by the RSF and their allies. In addition, conflict related sexual violence (CRSV), widely reported against non-Arab women and girls, may also have a political motive as it is used as a weapon of war, as a part of ‘ethnic cleansing’ by the RSF and its allies. See also 3.9. Violence against women.