Nearly 4 million people have voluntarily returned across Sudan, many hoping to rebuild their lives after months of conflict. But without urgent investment to restore essential services, rebuild infrastructure and revive livelihoods, these returns risk becoming unsustainable, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned today.
Returns have been concentrated particularly in Aj Jazirah and Khartoum, driven by a combination of factors, including improved security in some areas, economic pressures, family reunification, limited services in displacement sites, and growing challenges faced by Sudanese living in neighbouring countries. While these movements reflect people's determination to return home, many are arriving in places still deeply affected by conflict and collapse.
"For many people, returning home should mark the beginning of recovery. Instead, too often it means confronting destroyed services, damaged homes and new uncertainty," said IOM Deputy Director General for Management and Reform SungAh Lee, during her visit to Sudan. "People need access to basic services, safe housing and ways to restore their livelihoods. Without that support, safe and dignified returns become much harder to sustain."
Across Sudan, evolving patterns of displacement and spontaneous return continue to reshape communities and strain already weakened systems. At the height of the conflict, nearly 12 million people fled heavily affected areas, particularly Aj Jazirah, Khartoum, and parts of Sennar and Kordofan, seeking safety in other regions; more than 4 million fled to neighbouring countries.
Eastern states such as Kassala, Gedaref, and Red Sea, as well as Northern and River Nile states, became critical reception areas, hosting internally displaced persons, and migrants, while also serving as key transit points within wider regional mobility routes. Today, nearly 9 million people remain internally displaced.
The influx of displaced populations places persistent pressure on services and resources in host communities. Health systems, water infrastructure, protection services, and livelihood opportunities remain stretched. Host communities, many already facing economic hardship and climate-related challenges, are carrying increasing social and economic burdens.
In Khartoum, returns are rising rapidly, placing additional strain on urban infrastructure already damaged by months of fighting. Water systems, electricity networks, health facilities, and housing remain heavily affected, complicating efforts to restore basic services.
In Aj Jazirah, one of Sudan's most important agricultural regions, returnees are confronted with damaged systems and equipment. These conditions threaten livelihoods and food production at a critical moment for recovery, against a wider backdrop of food insecurity and economic turmoil.
These challenges affect returnees, displaced populations, and host communities alike. As populations move between areas of displacement, transit and return, pressure on services, livelihoods and social cohesion continues. Displacement and return are not separate dynamics, but deeply interconnected realities that require coordinated responses across regions.
During her visit, DDG Lee met with key government actors, including the Ministers of Water and Irrigation, Health, and Education. Through close partnerships with national authorities and local actors, IOM is working to help communities move beyond emergency assistance toward recovery, stability, and longer-term peace, in furtherance of the UN Secretary-General's Action Agenda on Internal Displacement.
This includes supporting life-saving humanitarian assistance while investing in solutions and resilience to strengthen local systems and communities over time. Reliable data and coordinated responses remain essential to monitor movements, identify needs, and help ensure assistance reaches communities most affected by displacement.
However, with IOM Sudan's 2026 Crisis Response Plan underfunded by USD 97.2 million, and with more than 2 million additional people expected to voluntarily return to Khartoum alone this year, the work to stabilize areas of return in Sudan has just begun. Sustained partnership, coordinated action, and adequate resources are essential to support Sudan at this pivotal moment and to ensure that return movements contribute to long-term recovery and stability.
