The United Nations announced, on Friday, that more than 1.3 million Sudanese were displaced by war, including one million displaced internally, returning to their homes, calling for support to them.
The battles between the army and the “Rapid Support Forces” since April 2023 resulted in the death of tens of thousands and the displacement of millions, causing a crisis that the United Nations described as “the most destructive in the world.”
Although the fighting stopped in the areas that the displaced and refugees began to return to, the circumstances are still framed, according to a statement issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations Development Program.
“There is more and more internally displaced (…) who decided to return to their homes,” said Mamadou Diane Baldi, coordinator of the Regional Commission for the crisis in Sudan.
He added, in statements made by Nairobi, that “a million displaced internally have returned to their homes” in recent months.
“The largest flows started at the beginning of the year, but the flows to Khartoum gradually began since March.”
The return began in late 2024, but the majority of the 320,000 people have returned since January, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Baldi pointed out that “these refugees and internally displaced persons return to their homes without carrying anything with them.”
Most people returned to the states of Khartoum, Sennar and the island, which is severely affected by more than two years of the war, according to the United Nations agencies.
The general infrastructure of complete destruction, as well as schools and hospitals, has been subjected to collective shelters, while the loss or destruction of civil status documents and the impossibility of replacing them prohibits many of benefiting from services. The returnees also face the risks of unexploded munitions and sexual violence.
The United Nations expects about 2.1 million people to return to Khartoum by the end of the year. “This depends on several factors, most notably the security situation and the ability to resume services in time.”
In light of the great shortage of financing humanitarian operations inside Sudan and in the neighboring countries hosting refugees, the United Nations called for an urgent increase in financial aid.
There are still 10 million internally displaced in Sudan, of whom 7.7 million were forced to flee their homes due to the current conflict.
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