The UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Thursday that nearly 4.65 million displaced civilians have returned to their areas in Sudan, as the number of internally displaced people due to the ongoing civil war continues to decline, Anadolu reports.
The UN agency said in a statement that the new data was based on surveys done at nearly 13,000 locations across 185 localities in all 18 Sudanese states.
The IOM said the number of internally displaced people reached nearly 8.69 million across 185 localities, down 25% from the highest recorded displacement level and around 1% lower than the previous month.
According to the agency, nearly 4.65 million people had returned to their areas across 74 localities, with 82% returning from internal displacement locations and 18% returning from outside Sudan.
Children under 18 make up around half of both displaced people and returnees, accounting for 55% of all internally displaced people and 50% of all returnees, it added.
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The number of returnees rose 5% from the previous month, the agency said.
On June 15, the IOM said the number of internally displaced people had declined to some 8.8 million, while the number of returnees stood at just over 4.4 million, falling 24% from the highest displacement level in January 2025, when the number reached nearly 11.6 million.
The decline is attributed to growing return movements after the Sudanese army retook the states of Khartoum, Sennar, and Al-Jazirah from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Even with the number of displaced falling, Sudan’s humanitarian crisis continues due to the war between the army and the RSF, which began in 2023 over a dispute on integrating the military force. The conflict has killed tens of thousands and displaced around 13 million people at its peak, according to UN estimates.
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