Sudan: Over one million return to war-Scarred Khartoum amid fragile recovery, Says UN Migration Agency

More than one million people have returned to Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, in the past ten months despite ongoing insecurity and the collapse of essential services, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has reported.

The returns, recorded between November 2024 and September 2025, involve families relocating from other parts of Sudan and from abroad. Ugochi Daniels, IOM’s Deputy Director-General for Operations, described the movement as both a sign of resilience and a warning, noting that returnees are coming back to a city still bearing the scars of conflict, where homes remain damaged and basic services barely function.

Khartoum, which was recaptured by the Sudanese army from the Rapid Support Forces earlier this year, remains deeply affected by the civil war that erupted in April 2023. According to the IOM, the city still hosts over 3.7 million displaced people, with recent returns accounting for only 26% of the total. Nationwide, about 2.6 million Sudanese have returned to their areas of origin since late 2024, including over half a million from neighboring countries such as Egypt, South Sudan, and Libya. The IOM cautioned that most returnees are living in damaged homes or overcrowded shelters with limited access to water, healthcare, and protection, urging the international community to intensify recovery efforts and restore essential services.