Over One Million Sudanese Head Back to Their Homes

(MENAFN) Despite ongoing violence throughout Sudan, more than one million internally displaced individuals have made their way back to their homes as "pockets of relative safety have emerged," alongside approximately 320,000 others who have returned from Egypt and South Sudan since last year, UN agencies revealed in a joint statement on Friday.

Most returns have occurred in Khartoum, Sennar, and Al Jazirah States—areas devastated by over two years of relentless conflict, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

Although hostilities have diminished in these zones, living conditions remain critical. Infrastructure including power grids, roads, and drainage systems have been obliterated, while schools and hospitals lie in ruins or serve as overcrowded shelters for displaced families. Essential civil documentation is lacking, and ongoing threats such as sexual violence and unexploded ordnance continue to jeopardize safety, the statement warned.

Recent visits by UNHCR and IOM regional directors to Khartoum uncovered thousands of displaced persons and refugees isolated from humanitarian assistance since the outbreak of war. "More than evidence of people’s desire to return to their homeland, these returns are a desperate call for an end to the war," stated Mamadou Dian Balde, the regional refugee coordinator for the Sudan crisis.

IOM Regional Director Othman Belbeisi stressed the importance of backing voluntary repatriation. "Those heading home are not passive survivors, they are vital to Sudan's recovery… We must work alongside local partners to ensure that people return not to shattered systems, but to the foundations of peace, dignity, and opportunity," he said.

Adding urgency, UNDP’s Abdallah Al Dardari remarked, "We are in a race against time to clear the rubble and provide water, power, and health care."

Humanitarian demands both inside Sudan and in neighboring host countries remain severely unmet. Aid agencies have received only 23% of the $4.2 billion required for relief efforts within Sudan, and a mere 16% of the $1.8 billion needed to assist Sudanese refugees abroad.

Sudan currently hosts nearly 882,000 refugees and more than 10 million internally displaced people, with 7.7 million displaced by the ongoing conflict. Meanwhile, hundreds more flee daily as fighting persists in Darfur and Kordofan.

Concluding the statement, the agencies declared, "The people of Sudan have suffered enough," and urged for a political resolution to pave the way for lasting peace and full recovery.

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