Over a million displaced return to Khartoum as conflict rages

More than one million displaced people have returned to Khartoum between November 2024 and September 2025, the International Organization for Migration said on Tuesday, as Sudan’s three‑year conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces continues to leave the capital and other regions heavily damaged. The returns came amid ongoing insecurity, public health threats and constrained humanitarian access, while drone strikes in October delayed plans to reopen Khartoum International Airport.

IOM’s Sudan Return Monitoring Snapshot reported the more than one million returns to Khartoum and said the city now hosts roughly 3.77 million displaced people, with current returns representing about 26 percent of that population. Nationwide, the agency recorded 2.6 million return movements over the same period, including more than 520,000 people returning from Egypt, South Sudan and Libya. IOM warned that up to 2.7 million additional displaced people could return to the capital if security conditions allow.

"The scale of return to Khartoum is both a sign of resilience and a warning," Ugochi Daniels, IOM’s deputy director general for operations, said after...