Despite Paying Ransom, Fate of Kidnapped Civilians in El-Fashir Remains Unknown

 

Residents of El-Fashir, North Darfur, reported Monday that several of their relatives who were abducted by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia in October, following the militia’s takeover of the city, remain missing despite the payment of ransom money for their release.

 

 

According to residents, some families paid large sums to secure the release of their loved ones, but communication with the captors was cut off after the money was handed over.

 

 

Ishag Mohamed Ibrahim, a relative of one of the kidnapped men, said his family paid four million Sudanese pounds to free his nephew after negotiating with the kidnappers last Monday. They had initially demanded ten million pounds before agreeing to the reduced amount.

 

Ibrahim told Darfur24 that his nephew was supposed to be released and transported to Kabkabiya, about 155 kilometers west of El-Fashir, but his whereabouts remain unknown.

 

 

In a similar account, Rehab Al-Nour, the wife of another kidnapped man from El-Fashir, said her husband contacted the family via a video call on a social media app, during which his captors demanded six million Sudanese pounds as ransom. However, the family failed to raise the amount within the 24-hour deadline, after which the kidnappers blocked communication. She said they have not heard from him for more than a week.

 

 

Rehab added that several families have paid ransoms, yet their relatives have not been released. She noted that the ransom demands often exceed what most families can afford amid the current economic hardships.

 

 

Legal expert Mohamed Abdullah said ransom demands have sharply increased since RSF forces took control of El-Fashir. He explained that kidnappers often extort families multiple times before handing the captives over to RSF troops as prisoners or, in some cases, killing them without releasing them.

 

 

Abdullah added that some families received calls from the phones of their kidnapped relatives, but after transferring the requested amounts, the kidnappers switched off the phones and disappeared.

 

 

Darfur24 documented six confirmed cases in which families paid ransom for the release of relatives abducted in areas surrounding El-Fashir — including Kurma, Garni, Donki Shattah northwest of the city, Umm Marahik, Tura to the north, and Goz Beina to the south.

 

Relatives of some victims said ransom payments ranged between one and ten million Sudanese pounds, transferred via mobile banking apps to multiple accounts controlled by the kidnappers, after the families receiving voice messages and video clips showing their relatives pleading for payment to save their lives.

 

 

In a briefing issued last week, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said survivors reported that kidnappers separated detainees based on gender, age, or perceived ethnic identity, holding many of them for ransom amounts ranging between five and thirty-five million Sudanese pounds.

 

One survivor told MSF he paid 24 million pounds to escape captivity.

 

 

RSF militia seized the headquarters of the Sudanese Army’s 6th Infantry Division in El-Fashir after a siege that lasted nearly a year and a half, taking control of what had been the army’s last stronghold in the Darfur region.