Sudan resumes voluntary return convoys from Egypt as 1,200 citizens travel home

Sudan’s Hope Committee for Voluntary Return resumed organized voluntary return convoys from Egypt on Thursday, with approximately 1,200 Sudanese citizens traveling home aboard 24 buses, following new measures introduced by Sudanese authorities to facilitate their return.

According to the state-run Sudan News Agency (SUNA), the convoy was organized under the auspices of the General Secretariat of the Zakat Chamber as part of an ongoing voluntary repatriation program.

The resumption follows a decision by Babiker Samra Mustafa, Director General of the Sudanese Police Forces, to waive fees for emergency travel documents and allow the use of expired passports to facilitate the return of Sudanese nationals.

The Hope Committee for Voluntary Return, a humanitarian initiative that coordinates with Sudanese government institutions, said the measures were intended to accelerate the safe and voluntary return of citizens from abroad.

READ: Sudanese army says it has secured key supply route after capturing Jereikh

SUNA quoted the committee’s executive secretary, Montaser Osman Omar, as saying that the Passports and Civil Registry Authority had dispatched a specialized police team to Cairo to work alongside the Sudanese Embassy and the committee in expediting travel procedures for returning citizens.

The latest convoy comes days after Sudan launched a separate initiative to repatriate university academics from Egypt. That program began on 20th July and has so far facilitated the return of approximately 1,000 university and higher institute professors in coordination with the Sudanese Professional Union of University and Higher Institute Professors and the Cultural Attaché at the Sudanese Embassy in Cairo.

Previous voluntary return convoys organized by the committee included approximately 1,000 people traveling on 20 buses on 16th July, 900 people on 18 buses on 13th July, 800 people on 9th July, and 1,174 people on 4th July.

Since the conflict in Sudan erupted in April 2023, more than 1.2 million Sudanese have fled to Egypt, according to official Sudanese estimates. Egypt was already home to an estimated 5 million Sudanese before the outbreak of the conflict, making it one of the principal destinations for people displaced by the fighting.

READ: Insecurity, violence force 20,000 to flee from Sudan’s Darfur: UN