Over 1.3 million Sudanese return home amid conflict, UN urges urgent aid
More than 1.3 million people who fled violence in Sudan have returned to their homes in recent months, the United Nations said on Friday, calling for urgent international support to help rebuild lives devastated by war.
According to UN agencies, over one million internally displaced persons (IDPs) have gone back to their communities, while an additional 320,000 refugees have returned from neighboring countries—primarily Egypt and South Sudan.
Though fighting has eased in some “pockets of relative safety,” the UN warned that the overall situation remains fragile and dangerous.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been ravaged by a brutal conflict between the national army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. The war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and forced millions from their homes.
The RSF lost control of Khartoum in March, and the national army now controls Sudan’s central, northern, and eastern regions. However, vast areas—including most of the western Darfur region—remain under RSF control, while Kordofan in the south has become a new flashpoint.
In a joint appeal, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) called for a significant increase in international funding, warning that current humanitarian operations are “massively underfunded.”
Sudan now has a staggering 10 million internally displaced people, including 7.7 million uprooted by the current conflict. More than four million have fled to neighboring countries.
“Sudan is the largest humanitarian catastrophe facing our world and also the least remembered,” said Othman Belbeisi, IOM’s regional director, during a briefing from Port Sudan.
He noted that 71 percent of returnees have gone back to Al-Jazira state, while eight percent have returned to Khartoum. Others are heading to Sennar state, southeast of the capital.
“We expect 2.1 million to return to Khartoum by the end of this year,” Belbeisi said, “but this depends on security and the restoration of essential services.”
He described the war as a “vicious, horrifying civil war” and urged both sides to lay down their arms.
“Sudan is a living nightmare. The violence needs to stop,” he said.
Returnees face devastation
Mamadou Dian Balde, the UNHCR’s regional refugee coordinator for the Sudan crisis, said many returning from Egypt are doing so “empty handed,” and face ruined infrastructure and unsafe conditions.
Speaking from Nairobi, Balde said destroyed public services are making life nearly impossible for those trying to resettle.
Luca Renda, UNDP’s resident representative in Sudan, echoed the alarm, pointing to broken water systems, non-functional hospitals, and schools in urgent need of repair.
He warned of potential cholera outbreaks in Khartoum if basic services aren’t restored soon. At least 1,700 wells need rehabilitation, and six hospitals and 35 schools in Khartoum require immediate repairs.
Renda also highlighted the “massive” contamination of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the capital.
“It will take years to fully decontaminate the city,” he warned, adding that anti-personnel mines have already been discovered in at least five locations.
The UN urged the global community to step up its response, both to prevent further suffering and to help returning Sudanese rebuild their shattered lives.
