Masalit massacres (2023–present)

In 2023, the Rapid Support Forces, in the course of the Sudanese civil war, carried out killing sprees in many towns in Darfur. Examples include the Ardamata massacre, Misterei massacre and the Battle of Geneina, all of which targeted Masalit civilians within the area of Geneina. These incidents have been described by The Economist, Genocide Watch, US academic Eric Reeves, and Khamis Abakar (Governor of West Darfur), as a genocide.

Background
In December 2020, Sudan started to deploy troops to South Darfur "in large numbers", following recent tribal violence between the Masalit and Fula.

Massacres
Following the Battle of Geneina, more than a thousand bodies were left in mass graves in the town of El Geneina.

In January 2024, it was revealed that a report to the UN Security Council estimated that 10,000–15,000 people were killed in El Geneina.

According to accounts by survivors, massacres were coordinated, specifically targeting Masalit and other dark-skinned inhabitants of Darfur, as opposed to the Sudanese Arab population. The Rapid Support Forces denied involvement, characterizing the situation as a tribal conflict, while Arab tribal leaders denied being involved in ethnic cleansing and held the Masalit responsible for starting the conflict.

Reactions
Khamis Abakar, then governor of West Darfur, denounced the killings as "genocide". He was soon after executed by RSF militants for his statements on 14 June 2023.

As of August 2023, there is an increasing amount of proof suggesting that the RSF is initiating a systematic purge based on ethnicity in Darfur. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has issued a warning about the potential escalation into a full-scale genocide. On 10 November 2023, Filippo Grandi, the U.N. High Commissioner, drew parallels between the ongoing violence and the genocide in Darfur recognised by the U.S., where it is estimated that 300,000 people lost their lives from 2003 to 2005. He cautioned that a "similar dynamic might be unfolding."

In October, Genocide Watch issued an alert concerning the situation in Sudan, explicitly characterizing the massacres performed by the Rapid Support Forces against the Masalit people as genocide. This characterization was also shared by US academic Eric Reeves, specialized in Sudan's human rights record, and The Economist.

Josep Borrell, the chief of foreign policy for the European Union, has expressed his strong condemnation of the killing of more than 1,000 individuals in Ardamata. He has urgently appealed to the international community to take immediate action to avert a potential "genocide" in the area.

The UK government, witnesses and other observers described the violence in the region as tantamount to ethnic cleansing or even genocide, with non-Arab groups such as the Masalit being the primary victims. Mujeebelrahman Yagoub, Assistant Commissioner for Refugees in West Darfur called the violence worse than the War in Darfur in 2003 and the Rwandan genocide in 1994.