Sudan’s displaced persons coordination has warned that the humanitarian crisis is worsening in several parts of the country, saying the number of displaced people is at least 19 million. International aid is insufficient to meet the needs of those affected, particularly in the Darfur and Kordofan regions.
Harsh conditions and aid shortages in affected regions
The coordination said displaced people in Kordofan, Darfur and Blue Nile are living in harsh conditions, as the humanitarian crisis continues and basic needs remain difficult to meet. It added that shortages of international aid were increasing pressure on millions of people affected in Darfur and Kordofan.
The coordination’s warning came as the United Nations said more than five million displaced people had chosen to return to their homes in Sudan, despite the continuing civil war and the severe difficulties and widespread damage to infrastructure and services that accompany it.
The UN’s International Organization for Migration said in a statement that many people were returning to a country still under the strain of conflict, where damaged homes, schools and clinics were unable to meet people’s needs. The organisation warned that families faced the risk of being displaced again unless they received urgent support. Sudan has been at war since April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces.
The fighting has killed more than 200,000 people, according to estimates by aid workers, and displaced more than 12 million Sudanese, in a crisis the United Nations describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Data from the UN refugee agency shows that about five million people have fled to neighbouring countries.
New data on returnees and internally displaced people
Meanwhile, some displaced people began returning to Khartoum and other parts of Sudan after the army regained control of the capital last year, believing that security conditions in those areas had improved. New data released by the International Organization for Migration on Monday showed that 5.15 million people had returned to 76 localities across nine Sudanese states. This represented a 4% increase compared with the previous month.
The organisation said that 8.58 million people remained internally displaced in Sudan, a 1% decrease from the previous month. It added that the current figure was about a quarter lower than the level recorded at the peak of the displacement crisis. Despite the decline, the organisation said the number of displaced people in Sudan remained among the highest in the world.
It said continuing insecurity was forcing more people to leave their homes in parts of Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile — the same areas where the displaced persons coordination had warned of harsh humanitarian conditions.
Return does not end the needs of Sudanese families
The International Organization for Migration welcomed the number of returnees passing the five-million mark, describing it as “a rare sign of progress in a protracted humanitarian crisis”. But it stressed that returning to areas of residence did not mean that families’ needs or their efforts to achieve stability had ended.
The director-general of the International Organization for Migration, Amy Pope, said that “getting home is just the beginning”, warning that many people would be forced to flee again if they did not receive help now. She called for investment in the communities to which displaced people were returning, enabling them to rebuild their lives and settle there.
According to the organisation, 82% of returnees had been internally displaced in Sudan before returning, while about 930,000 people had returned from abroad, most of them from Egypt, South Sudan and Libya.
The data also showed that half of those who had returned to their areas were under the age of 18.
