UN migration agency returns to Khartoum
Port Sudan, Sudan (PANA) - The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has become the first UN agency to resume operations in Sudan’s national capital, Khartoum, which they deserted when the war broke out in April 2023.
In a notice in its X account, the IOM published a picture of its lead officials along with the governor of Khartoum state with a caption, “IOM celebrates its return to Khartoum! After more than 2 years.”
IOM said it has “officially reopened its office in Khartoum, becoming the first UN agency to re-establish a presence in the city since April 2023. With this, IOM pledges to reaffirm its enduring support to Sudan!”
IOM said Khartoum is now witnessing a sharp increase in returns. In the capital alone, the number of returnees is expected to reach 2.1 million this year, compared to an estimated five million who were displaced from the city at the height of the fighting.
“Movement back to urban areas is accelerating, yet conditions remain volatile,” said IOM Director General Amy Pope. “Families are attempting to rebuild in communities already strained by years of displacement and economic hardship, stretching social support networks and local capacities to the limit.”
IOM said in a press release that the return trend is not limited to the capital. Between November 2024 and July 2025, nearly two million people returned across 1,611 locations in Aj Jazirah, Khartoum, Sennar, Blue Nile, White Nile, River Nile, and West Darfur. Three in four of these returnees came from locations within Sudan.
“Many families arrive to find homes that are damaged or uninhabitable. Electricity and clean water remain scarce. Health care is limited and the risk of cholera persists. Unexploded ordnance continues to endanger civilians in residential areas, near schools, and along access roads.”
IOM said its return to Khartoum will support the country through this complex recovery phase. “The office will function as an inter-agency hub, enabling the UN and humanitarian partners to scale up life-saving assistance and early recovery support in urban areas where needs are most concentrated.”
The press release said IOM will work closely with the authorities and partners to ensure that communities of return have access to essential services. Support will target both returnees and residents who never left, recognising that recovery requires rebuilding services for entire communities.
The situation in Khartoum remains tense as remnants of explosives, debris and a host of outbreaks of diseases and mosquitos have made it difficult for the returnees.
These are coupled with the destruction of most health establishments and centres in Khartoum and elsewhere, as estimates by regional and international organisations say some 80% of health facilities have been totally put out of service as a result of the war.
However, the government in Port Sudan has decided to move most of the establishments back to Khartoum, with the civilian cabinet deciding to start its work from the capital.
A high level committee, headed by a member of the Sovereign Council - the collective Presidency - has moved to Khartoum and started the rehabilitation and allocation of offices and spaces for the government institutions and helping the government of the state to secure basic services.
The committee said water has been secured to some degree, adding that some $400 million would be required to restore electricity to Khartoum.
IOM said Sudan’s war has upended lives on an extraordinary scale. More than 14.2 million people have been displaced since the conflict escalated, with 10 million uprooted inside the country and 4.2 million across borders.
To accelerate humanitarian and recovery efforts, IOM is urgently appealing for $29 million in flexible funding to sustain humanitarian efforts in Khartoum alone.
IOM is also urging “all parties to facilitate safe, sustained, and unimpeded humanitarian access”.
-0- PANA MO/MA 9Sept2025
