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IOM Deputy Director General Sung Ah Lee said that repatriations were mostly concentrated in the capital Khartoum and Al Jazirah state, where he spoke to journalists.
“I was in Khartoum yesterday and I see many people returning to areas where homes and critical infrastructure including water, health, electricity have been badly damagedhe said.
Running out of options
Returning home despite the harsh realities there reflects the refugees’ determination and the difficult circumstances that prompted them to return, explained Ms Lee.
The IOM indicates that more than two million people are expected to return to Khartoum alone by 2026.
“Many returned because they believed security had improvedhe said while for others, living in a refugee camp becomes unbearableespecially due to economic pressures and increasingly difficult conditions in neighboring countries.
According to IOM, at the height of the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) which erupted on 15 April 2023, nearly 12 million people fled the badly affected areas, particularly Al Jazirah, Khartoum and parts of Sennar and Kordofan.
More than 4.5 million people crossed into neighboring countries, first and foremost Egypt, South Sudan and Chad.
Today, nearly nine million people remain internally displaced.
“Host communities in eastern and northern Sudan… Kassala, Gedaref, Red Sea, Northern and Nile states, have borne much of the burden, taking in refugee families while they already face economic hardship and climate-related stress,” emphasized Ms Lee.
“This has stretched the available infrastructure to its limits.”
Slim chance of survival
While in Khartoum rising incomes have put additional pressure on war-damaged urban infrastructure, in Al Jazirah, a major agricultural region, returnees are experiencing a level of destruction that could jeopardize their chances of growing any crops to survive.
“Farmers are returning to fields where irrigation systems and equipment have failed,” Ms Lee said, “threatening livelihoods and food production at a critical time for the country”.
Although the humanitarian response remains critically underfunded, “without urgent investment to restore essential services and rebuild infrastructure and revive livelihoods, secure and sustainable profits are at serious riskhe concluded.
Hopes of a ceasefire were dashed
Despite repeated diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire, the war has continued since April 2023, becoming the world’s largest displacement and protection crisis.
The conflict is characterized by severe violence and widespread human rights violations against civilians, including sexual violence, torture, arbitrary killings, extortion and targeting of specific ethnic groups.
The resulting humanitarian crisis has impacted the country and the wider region.
And as the Sudan conflict enters its fourth year, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, be warned that the scale and complexity of the crisis is increasing.
The agency continues to witness large-scale displacement both internally and across national borders as well as secondary or recurrent displacement fueled by insecurity and also due to service gaps in neighboring countries, with the closure of clinics, the suspension of nutrition programs, and the discontinuation of protective services.
