PORT SUDAN – Port Sudan’s resistance committees announced that security forces have detained humanitarian volunteer Barir Al-Toum, a member of the Red Sea Emergency Room. The committees placed full responsibility for his safety on the de facto Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) government that controls the city.
In a statement issued on Monday, 25 August 2025, the committees said “the authorities arrested humanitarian volunteer in the Red Sea Emergency Room and popular initiative, Barir Al-Toum, who became known for providing humanitarian services during the war to displaced communities.”
The resistance committees demanded Al-Toum’s “immediate release” and stressed that “the security authorities bear full responsibility for his safety.”
Al-Toum has been active in Port Sudan since the outbreak of the conflict, working with emergency rooms and local initiatives that stepped in to fill the gap left by the collapse of state institutions. During the war, these volunteer networks became lifelines, providing food, healthcare, and other humanitarian services to tens of thousands of displaced people in Khartoum and across Sudanese states.
Emergency rooms, grassroots humanitarian structures that grew out of the December 2018 revolution, have been targeted repeatedly by authorities and armed groups. Rights organizations say the crackdown reflects “political score-settling against the young men and women who took part in peaceful protests against the Bashir regime.”
The arrest comes amid wider concerns about the safety of humanitarian workers in eastern Sudan. In recent months, the de facto SAF government in Port Sudan has tightened restrictions on civil society groups, limiting independent relief efforts and attempting to bring them under state control.
Earlier this year, government-led “voluntary return” committees relocated thousands of displaced people from Port Sudan’s shelters to Gezira, Khartoum, White Nile, and eventually to their war-affected hometowns. The process drew sharp criticism from aid groups and the United Nations, which described it as “premature and dangerous” given the lack of guarantees for basic services, security, and clearance of war remnants.
The UN warned that dismantling shelters before adequate conditions were in place risked exposing displaced families to further harm, while cutting off access to vital humanitarian assistance.
In Port Sudan, the arrest of Al-Toum has reignited fears among activists that the emergency rooms themselves are being deliberately dismantled. Civil society groups argue that by arresting volunteers and undermining grassroots aid networks, the de facto SAF government is leaving vulnerable populations with even fewer avenues of support.
The Red Sea Emergency Room, of which Al-Toum is a member, has been particularly active in providing food, clean water, and medical services to displaced families who arrived in Port Sudan after fleeing heavy fighting in their regions. His detention, activists say, not only deprives communities of a committed volunteer but also sends a chilling message to others engaged in humanitarian relief.
As the war in Sudan grinds on, the pressure on independent relief groups is intensifying. Resistance committees insist that humanitarian volunteers must be protected, not punished. Their statement concluded with a renewed demand “we call for the immediate release of Barir Al-Toum and hold the security authorities fully accountable for his wellbeing.”
