Sudan returnees top 5 million, UN agency says

More than five million displaced Sudanese people have returned to their areas of origin despite the continuing civil war, the UN's International Organization for Migration said on Monday.

IOM said new data showed 5.15 million people had returned to 76 localities across nine Sudanese states, up four percent from a month earlier. It said 8.58 million people remain displaced across Sudan, down one percent from last month and about a quarter below the peak of the crisis.

The agency warned that many returnees were going back to places where conflict continues and where damaged homes, schools and clinics cannot meet basic needs.

The war between Sudan's regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces erupted in April 2023. Aid workers estimate it has killed more than 200,000 people and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crisis.

IOM said 82 percent of the returnees had been displaced inside Sudan, while about 930,000 had returned from abroad, mainly from Egypt, South Sudan and Libya. Half of all returnees are under 18, it said.

The agency said insecurity continues to force people to flee parts of Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile. IOM chief Amy Pope said support was needed to help returnees rebuild and avoid being displaced again.