Hundreds of thousands of displaced Sudanese return home

Nearly 400,000 Sudanese have returned to their homes in the past two and a half months after being displaced by the ongoing conflict, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said yesterday.

Between December and March, around 396,737 people returned to areas recaptured by the army from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), following the military’s recent advances through central Sudan, according to the United Nations migration agency.

Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a brutal war between the Sudanese army, led by Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the RSF, led by Al-Burhan’s former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

Most of the displaced people returned to their homes in Sennar state, in central Sudan, which the army largely regained in December, and Al-Gezira state, which was recaptured the following month.

Thousands more have returned to the capital, Khartoum, where the army reclaimed large areas last month and appeared close to expelling the RSF.

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Many displaced families returned in large numbers, even to homes that had been looted or burned, after more than a year of displacement.

An estimated 11.5 million people remain displaced within Sudan, with many facing severe hunger in what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Additionally, 3.5 million others have fled across borders since the war began.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands and triggered famine in parts of the country, with eight million people on the brink of starvation.

Across the country, nearly 25 million people are suffering from severe food insecurity.

The war has effectively divided Sudan into two regions, with the army controlling the north and east, while the RSF holds almost all of Darfur and parts of the south.