The United Nations has sounded the alarm over a deepening humanitarian crisis in Sudan, as more than 1.3 million people displaced by civil war have begun returning to their homes. The UN is calling for urgent financial support, warning that recovery efforts remain severely underfunded.
According to UN agencies, over 1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) have returned in recent months, alongside 320,000 refugees who have crossed back into Sudan, primarily from Egypt and South Sudan. Many are returning to areas with only “pockets of relative safety”, where security remains fragile and basic infrastructure is devastated.
Sudan’s civil war erupted in April 2023, stemming from a power struggle between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sudanese Armed Forces, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The conflict has since claimed tens of thousands of lives and triggered the world’s largest displacement crisis, with 10 million people internally displaced and over 4 million seeking refuge abroad.
In a joint statement, the UNHCR, IOM, and UNDP warned that humanitarian operations remain “massively underfunded,” with only a fraction of the required financial support secured. The agencies called on the global community to step up, noting that critical services—including healthcare, water access, education, and demining—are in dire need of restoration.
“Sudan is the largest humanitarian catastrophe in the world—and the least remembered,”
—Othman Belbeisi, IOM Regional Director
Belbeisi revealed that 71% of returnees are heading to Al-Jazira state, followed by Sennar and Khartoum, where 2.1 million people are expected to return by the end of 2025, pending security conditions.
Mamadou Dian Balde, UNHCR’s regional refugee coordinator, described scenes of destroyed public infrastructure and dangerous contamination in Khartoum, adding that most returnees from Egypt arrive “empty-handed” and face immediate survival challenges.
UNDP’s Luca Renda issued grave warnings about health risks and environmental hazards, including:
- 1,700+ water wells in need of rehabilitation
- At least 6 hospitals and 35+ schools requiring urgent repairs
- Unexploded ordnance (UXO) scattered across the capital
- Anti-personnel mines discovered in at least five locations
“It will take years to fully decontaminate Khartoum,”
—Luca Renda, UNDP Sudan
Despite the relative calm in some regions, the conflict persists violently in Kordofan and Darfur, where the RSF maintains strong control. UN officials have appealed for a ceasefire and renewed peace efforts.
“The war has unleashed hell for millions. Sudan is a living nightmare. The violence must stop,”
—Belbeisi, IOM
