Sudan’s displaced return to new challenges in war-battered Khartoum

The Sudanese was one of the first areas to be affected, and one of the worst hit, by the war between the SAF and the RSF.

Khartoum, Sudan – Mohamed Mahdi Makki Farah, 51, returned home near the Sudanese capital in August 2025 after the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) declared the entire state of Khartoum free of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters. But it was not the end of his family’s struggles.

The 51-year-old had left his home in Jabal Awliya, south of Khartoum, for el-Fasher in North Darfur in June 2023.

He returned home to find it destroyed and ransacked, with even the household utensils stolen.

“Everything had been completely destroyed. Now we sleep on the floor, and some of us are living in rented houses,” Makki Farah told Al Jazeera. “We have not made any decision to repair our home because the costs are extremely high, and we have not been able to start.”

His years as a trader appeared to have been wasted, with his possessions gone and his business capital reduced to almost a third of its pre-war level because of the Sudanese pound’s depreciation.

The journey of displacement and return exhausted his remaining resources, while children’s medical expenses and the family’s daily needs added to their financial burden.

This meant he was unable to generate the funds needed to repair his home, so rent became an additional burden, while access to water, electricity and healthcare services is still difficult.

They had also lost important documents during the war and had to start from scratch to replace them.

“Everyone knows about the water and electricity problems; Khartoum is almost entirely in darkness now. As for healthcare, only government health centres are operating, thank God,” Makki Farah said.

The family’s experiences are those faced by millions of Sudanese families returning to their homes after years of displacement.

Fighting between the SAF and the RSF, which began in April 2023, continues, particularly in the southeast of the country. But large parts of Sudan are more stable after government victories, particularly around Khartoum. Sudanese displaced from these areas during early years of fighting are beginning to return home now that the situation has improved.

According to the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Displacement Tracking Matrix report, as of September 30, approximately 5.27 million displaced Sudanese returned to their homes in nine states.

Of those, 82 percent had been internally displaced, while 18 percent had crossed the borders. Children accounted for about half of all returnees.

According to an assessment published by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in August 2026, approximately 2.5 million people had returned to their homes in Khartoum state.

But the agency warned that returning did not necessarily mean people had the conditions needed to rebuild their lives. Many found their homes damaged or uninhabitable, while work opportunities remained limited. Access to water and basic services was also inadequate due to damage to infrastructure during the war.

Many returnees are still renting as they cannot afford to repair their homes.

Abubakr Ishaq Hamed Ibrahim, 40, returned to Khartoum in February 2026 after being displaced to River Nile state in May 2023.

Like Makki Farah, he also found his home destroyed, with the furniture, bedding and basic household belongings they had accumulated over the years gone.

They had to move to Omdurman, neighbouring Khartoum, renting a home in the al-Thawra neighbourhood, but this became difficult to afford without a regular income.

“Our homes were looted and destroyed. We found nothing inside. Everything was wrecked, and we had no furniture, no bedding, nothing at all. We were unable to pay the rent for several months, and rents are quite expensive. We have been through extremely difficult conditions, and even now we have no stable source of income,” he said.

Before the war, Hamed Ibrahim had relied on self-employed work, but now depends on any casual work he can find.

His family had exhausted all their savings and borrowed money from family and friends to cover basics such as food, housing and school fees.

“Thank God, we are now doing casual jobs. The income is not enough to meet the cost of living and the daily burdens. We have exhausted all the money and savings we had, and we have borrowed money from individuals,” he said.

Things are slightly improving. His children have returned to school with support from relatives.

The family also receives in-kind assistance from organisations such as the World Food Programme, including supplies of sorghum (a cereal grain), flour, wheat, oil and sugar.

But overall, the situation in Khartoum remains dire for most residents. There have been fuel shortages and repeated power cuts in recent weeks, disrupting public transport. Fares have increased on some routes and commuters are often forced to wait hours for a bus. There are also long queues outside bakeries in some areas due to shortages of flour.

Families with limited resources, few employment opportunities and homes in need of costly repairs have been the worst affected.

On Saturday, Khartoum state authorities announced measures to address the transport crisis. Governor Ahmed Osman Hamza chaired a meeting that agreed to supply public transport services with fuel and give buses priority.

Government departments were also instructed to give residents lifts when travelling to and from work. Members of the Popular Resistance of Sudan, a coalition of SAF-aligned armed factions, help manage traffic in the capital.

Economic journalist and specialist Khalid Takes said the public transport crisis in Khartoum highlights a need for the state to take more responsibility for managing a centralised process, away from a reliance on private minibuses.

“No country has left the public transport sector entirely in the hands of the private sector, which relies on small vehicles,” he told Al Jazeera. “This results in ongoing costs for the state, both directly and indirectly, particularly in importing spare parts and fuel, which require foreign currency.”

Makki Farah says although he has managed to return to his home city of Khartoum, it is not enough to return his life to how it was before the war. He does not see a future in the capital for his family unless they receive more support.

“We have lost everything we had before the war. Now we need assistance because everything we need – housing, healthcare and education – has been destroyed,” he said.

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