Sudan’s Information Minister to Al Jazeera Net: More Than 3 Million Displaced Have Returned to Khartoum After the War

Sudan Events – Agencies

Sudan’s acting Minister of Culture and Information for Khartoum State, Al-Tayeb Saad Al-Din, said that more than three million displaced people have returned to their homes, bringing the state’s population to around eight million, compared with 15 million before the outbreak of the April 2023 war.

In remarks to Al Jazeera Net, the Sudanese minister explained that while there are no precise statistics on the number of returnees, available data indicate that more than three million people have gone back after the end of the war. Most of them were internally displaced to neighboring states such as Northern Nile, Al-Jazira, Gedaref, and White Nile.

For more than a year, Khartoum has witnessed daily arrivals of hundreds of buses from neighboring states and from outside Sudan carrying returnees. A field tour by Al Jazeera Net showed a marked increase in return rates in Omdurman, Bahri, and East Nile.

Data from the International Organization for Migration’s Displacement Tracking Matrix, which publishes weekly statistics, show that more than one million displaced people returned to the capital, Khartoum, during ten months of 2025.

No Precise Statistics

Saad Al-Din added that “there has been a very large return of citizens, with the state receiving hundreds of buses daily from Egypt and various Sudanese states, in addition to returnees arriving via Port Sudan Airport.” He noted that schools are crowded with students and that services are available in many parts of the state.

He said that Karari locality now has the highest population density after hosting large numbers of displaced people during the war, followed by Bahri, then East Nile and Jabal Awliya, and finally Ombada locality.

The minister also confirmed that the return of electricity to several neighborhoods was a key factor in the growing number of returnees. He said the state has succeeded in fully restoring the electricity grid after extensive damage, though the main remaining challenge is the shortage of transformers. Khartoum State needs more than 14,000 transformers, and recent shipments have begun to arrive, including 500 units delivered a few days ago.

Services Returning

Saad Al-Din added that the state has also managed to restart all Nile-based water pumping stations and reopen major markets, such as Libya Market in western Omdurman, Al-Kalakla Al-Laffa Market in southern Khartoum, East Nile markets, and Bahri Market, with increased activity at Sabreen Market in northern Omdurman.

He noted that since the war the state had relied on neighboring states to supply vegetables and fruit, but this year it has depended on local production in northern Omdurman and northern Bahri, contributing to abundant supply and lower prices.

According to the minister, the biggest current challenge is completing the restoration of electricity and returning residents to their homes, as many houses remain vacant, posing security risks and, in some cases, becoming breeding grounds for disease.

Improved Security

The minister said the security situation has improved significantly thanks to the widespread deployment of police across the state and the role of returning residents in supporting security. He pointed to the work of the Committee for Restoring State Authority through several key measures, including:

• Removing visible military presence and collecting destroyed vehicles.
• Operating a central command room to manage joint patrols and maintain order in markets and streets.
• Arresting numerous offenders, while a security cell pursues militia collaborators and organized criminal gangs.

Field tours by Al Jazeera Net in neighborhoods of northern Bahri and East Nile showed rising numbers of returnees despite challenges such as power outages and scarce job opportunities. Some families have turned to solar energy and relied on community kitchens to secure food, while improved security, water availability, and the reopening of markets have gradually brought life back to the area.

In Al-Sahafa neighborhood in southern Khartoum, hundreds of families have returned to their homes despite ongoing power cuts. Residents depend on the central market as a main source of work amid the continued shutdown of many institutions and commercial activities.

A report by the International Organization for Migration last December stated that 3,027,446 people had returned to their original or nearby areas, including 2,260,735 internally displaced persons and 566,711 returnees from abroad. The report linked the return movement to improved security, the restoration of services, and the stabilization of supply chains following the army’s recapture of Sennar, Al-Jazira, and Khartoum states.

Source: Al Jazeera Net