March 10, 2025 (KHARTOUM) – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) revealed on Monday that 396,000 individuals have returned to their homes in Al Jazirah, Sennar, and Khartoum states over four months.
On October 23, the Sudanese army retook the city of Al Dindir, before expanding its control over most of Sennar and Al Jazirah states, as well as large areas of Khartoum Bahri (North Khartoum) and parts of Omdurman and South Khartoum.
In a statement received by Sudan Tribune, the IOM said that between December 18, 2024, and March 4, 2025, its field teams monitored the return of approximately 396,738 internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their locations of origin in Sudan. The IOM specified that the majority of returns were to Al Jazirah (66%), followed by Sennar (29%), and Khartoum (5%).
The IOM provided a detailed breakdown of the returnees’ previous locations.
Of the 262,645 individuals who returned to Al Jazirah state, the largest proportions came from Gedaref (44%), Sennar (21%), Kassala (11%), and River Nile (9%) states. Smaller numbers were returned from the Red Sea (7%), White Nile (4%), Blue Nile (2%), and Northern (2%) states.
The 114,759 people who returned to Sennar state originated mainly from Gedaref (38%), Red Sea (19%), and Blue Nile (18%) states. Additional returnees came from Kassala (13%), White Nile (7%), River Nile (3%), Northern (1%), and Khartoum (1%) states.
The IOM data showed that the 19,334 individuals who returned to Khartoum state came mainly from the River Nile (38%), Red Sea (34%), White Nile (18%), and Northern (10%) states.
The ongoing conflict has forced 11.5 million Sudanese to flee their homes to other areas within the country, while 3.3 million have crossed borders into neighbouring countries seeking safety.
A returnee is a person who was previously displaced from their usual place of residence within the country due to an event dating back to 2003 or later and has now voluntarily returned home.
The IOM stated that the returnee statistics do not include the return movements of displaced people within the same state. This means that the number of returnees may be higher than reported.
The Sudanese government is encouraging the return of displaced people to their homes that the army has retaken. Official and community-led initiatives are also active in facilitating voluntary returns, despite civilians’ complaints about the lack of security in the areas they are returning to, particularly in Wad Madani and Khartoum Bahri.
