The Deputy Director-General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for Management and Reforms, Sung Ah Lee, on Monday stated that nearly four million people had voluntarily returned to their places of origin, particularly to Aj Jazirah and Khartoum.
Ah Lee, who was speaking from Khartoum during a hybrid press briefing chaired by Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said many were returning because they believed security had improved.
“Others returned because life in displacement had become unbearable, because of economic pressures, to reunite with families, or because conditions in neighbouring countries were increasingly hard. These movements spoke to the resilience and determination of Sudanese communities,” she said. “People wanted to rebuild, they wanted to return to their land, their homes, and their livelihoods, but the reality many encountered upon arrival was stark. Returning home should mark the beginning of recovery, but in Sudan today, it was often the beginning of another struggle for survival. Across the country, the impacts of conflict remained severe.”
Ah Lee informed that at the height of the crisis, nearly 12 million people had fled heavily affected areas, while more than four million had crossed into neighboring countries.
“Today, almost nine million people remain internally displaced. Through partnerships with Sudanese authorities and local actors, IOM was working to support communities beyond emergency relief, toward recovery, resilience, and stability,” she said. “However, the scale of needs remained immense. IOM has been able to reach four million people in Sudan alone with lifesaving humanitarian aid since 2023.”
“IOM had released its 2026 Sudan Crisis Response Plan that seeks USD 170 million to respond to the rising needs, even as more than two million additional people were expected to return to Khartoum alone in 2026. This was a pivotal moment for Sudan,” the IOM official added.
Ah Lee concluded by stressing that with sustained partnership, coordinated action, and adequate resources, return movements could become a pathway toward recovery and stability, not the beginning of another crisis.
The briefing was attended by the Co-Chairs of the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance, the Special Envoy for Digital and Emerging Technologies, the Deputy Director-General of the International Organization for Migration, as well as the spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Mine Action Service, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining.
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