In its 2026 annual Trafficking in Persons Report, the US State Department referred to the authority based in Port Sudan as the « Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF)-aligned government, » replacing the « Government of Sudan » designation used in the previous year’s report.
This shift extended to the characterization of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan; the new report describes him as the de facto head of the SAF-aligned government, whereas the 2025 report had described him as the de facto leader of the state.
The State Department retained Sudan in Tier 3—the report’s lowest classification level—determining that the SAF-aligned government does not meet the minimum standards for combating human trafficking and is not making significant efforts to eliminate it.
The report accused the Sudanese army, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and other parties to the conflict of the unlawful recruitment and use of children—including those forcibly recruited—noting that these practices have persisted since the outbreak of war in April 2023.
It stated that authorities reported no new investigations into human trafficking crimes or prosecutions of suspects during the reporting period, and recorded no convictions for the third consecutive year.
Furthermore, the report noted that authorities reported no identification or assistance provided to human trafficking victims—compared to 83 potential victims identified in the previous period—while two government-run shelters remained closed. The report indicated that the war has exacerbated the risks of sexual enslavement, forced labor, and child recruitment, amidst shortcomings in measures to protect victims and hold those responsible for violations accountable.
