As conflict continues to rage across parts of Sudan, including North Darfur State and the Kordofan region, pockets of relative safety have emerged over the past four months — spurring more than one million internally displaced Sudanese to return home, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Since last year, a further 320,000 refugees have returned to Sudan, mainly from Egypt and South Sudan, some to assess the current situation before deciding to return.
“The majority of returns has been to Al Jazirah, almost 71 percent; and then 13 percent to Sennar and, so far, 8 percent to Khartoum,” said Othman Belbeisi, IOM Regional Director, speaking to journalists in Geneva on Friday from Port Sudan.
Most of the internally displaced people (IDPs) are from Sudan’s capital Khartoum.
Regional directors from IOM and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) recently visited Khartoum and witnessed widespread devastation and a chronic lack of services for its remaining inhabitants, including thousands of IDPs as well as refugees and asylum seekers hosted in Sudan. Many of these individuals had been completely cut off from assistance since the war began.
“We expect about 2.1 million to return to Khartoum by the end of this year, but this will depend on many factors, especially the security situation and the ability to restore services in a timely manner,” Belbeisi explained.
Since the current war began on April 15, 2023, more than 13 million people — the equivalent of the population of Russia’s capital, Moscow — have been forcibly displaced, making the situation the world's largest displacement crisis. Almost 5 million people have sought refuge in neighboring countries.
With more than 1.3 million people returning to their areas of origin in recent months, the overall displacement figure has fallen to over 12 million since the war began. However, more than 15 million people remain uprooted from Sudan, which includes those who fled before the war began in 2023.
As of July 2025, over 10.4 million people remain internally displaced within Sudan, including 8 million since April 2023 and 2.4 million prior to the war's outbreak. Meanwhile, at least 500,000 Sudanese fled to neighboring countries before the conflict escalated. Thus, the total number of Sudanese refugees is now estimated at over 5 million.
In May of this year, Sudan’s military took control of the Greater Khartoum region, including the capital, after battling the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for a long time in the western and southern areas.
Due to the war, parts of the country have been pushed into famine, and Sudan is grappling with the world's largest hunger crisis. Across the country, approximately 25 million people — nearly half the population — are experiencing acute hunger. Of those, at least 638,000 are facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase 5), and 8.1 million are experiencing emergency levels (IPC Phase 4).
Sudan is the only country in the world where famine has been confirmed in multiple areas and is still spreading. Ten locations have been declared famine zones, eight of which are in North Darfur State and two of which are in the Western Nuba Mountains. Another 17 areas, including parts of Darfur, the Nuba Mountains, Khartoum, and Al-Jazirah, are at risk of famine.
Many Sudanese are returning to areas that are now accessible, but the impact of more than two years of violent conflict is immense. The returning population faces deteriorating living conditions, shortages of essential services, and the threat posed by explosive remnants of war.
During the UN representatives' visit to Khartoum, an elderly man approached them to emphasize that their needs are simple.
“Food, water, healthcare - and education, since this is the future of our children, and we really need to invest in this future,” the old man insisted, according to the IOM Regional Director.
Humanitarian agencies emphasize the importance of beginning recovery efforts in areas that are becoming accessible and relatively safe. Efforts are underway to support those who choose to return. However, time is of the essence to clear the rubble, provide essential services such as clean water and power, and increase the capacity of health facilities to prevent the spread of deadly diseases such as cholera.
Although fighting has subsided in areas where people are returning, conditions remain perilous. Public infrastructure, including power supply lines, roads, and drainage systems, has been completely destroyed. Schools and hospitals have been either ruined or converted into collective shelters for displaced families.
The loss or destruction of civil documents, along with the inability to replace them, means people cannot access existing services. In addition to the dangers posed by unexploded ordnances, sexual violence and violations of children's rights are widespread.
“There are about 1,700 wells that need to be rehabilitated and they need power and solarization here is a great solution,” explained Luca Renda, Sudan Resident Representative for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
UNDP aims at developing long-term solutions for war-displaced people to secure livelihoods and basic services.
“There are at least six hospitals that require urgent rehabilitation and repair and a number of primary health centers,” he continued. Transport and cash for food, hygiene kits, medicines and clothes are also distributed to vulnerable people arriving in border areas.
Safe spaces for women are being established in Khartoum and Al Jazirah states to provide mental health and legal aid services to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. Plans are underway to remove debris, including dangerous remnants of war.
Clearing mines is an urgent challenge facing the capital if rehabilitation and reconstruction are to begin.
“There are hundreds of thousands, if not more, of unexploded ordnance in the city”, said Renda.
“The local Mine Action Authority, with the support of the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), started the decontamination. Even in our own office, we found literally hundreds of unexploded ordnances (UXO).”
Fully decontaminating the city of this deadly debris of war will take years. The UNDP estimates that UNMAS will need at least $10 million to deploy the required number of demining teams to work with national authorities and inform the population about the risks of unexploded ordnance.
Since April 15, 2023, the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces have been engaged in a brutal war that has caused an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. Currently, over 30 million people require urgent assistance, making this the world's largest humanitarian emergency.
As of today, aid agencies, including the UN, have only received 23 percent of the US$4.2 billion needed to provide lifesaving aid to nearly 21 million of the most vulnerable people in Sudan.
Despite recent returns, hundreds of people continue to flee daily — both within Sudan and across its borders — due to the ongoing conflict. According to UNHCR, this is especially true in the Darfur and Kordofan regions.
“In the Darfurs, they keep producing refugees, over 800,000” since the beginning of the conflict, said Mamadou Dian Balde, UNHCR Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Sudan Crisis.
On Thursday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) voiced alarm over the ongoing violence against civilians in the Kordofan region. The office emphasized that recent events highlight the increasing risks faced by civilians in Kordofan and the pressing need for an end to hostilities, protection of civilians, and secure, continuous access to humanitarian aid and services.
OCHA also warned about the impact of growing gaps in humanitarian assistance in the Darfur region. In North Darfur State, needs are mounting, particularly in Tawila, a locality hosting hundreds of thousands of people who fled fighting in and around the town of El Fasher.
With humanitarian operations massively underfunded both inside Sudan and in neighboring countries hosting refugees, urgent increases in financial support are critical.
According to UNHCR, $1.8 billion is needed to support the 4.8 million people who have fled Sudan and the communities hosting them, yet only 17 percent of the necessary funds have been allocated.
“People who are refugees still need greater support from our side,” Balde said. “And overall, we need peace, we need peace, we need peace, so that this brutal conflict ends.”