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GENEVA: More than five million displaced people have opted to return to their areas of origin in Sudan despite ongoing civil war and stark challenges, the United Nations said on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany are going back to a country still wracked by conflict, where damaged homes, schools and clinics cannot meet the needs,\u201d the UN\u2019s International Organization for Migration said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout urgent support, families risk being uprooted again.\u201d<\/p>\n
The war between Sudan\u2019s regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that erupted in April 2023 has killed more than 200,000 people, aid workers estimate, and created the world\u2019s largest hunger and displacement crisis.<\/p>\n
IOM has previously said that the war at its height displaced around 12 million people inside the country, while the UN refugee agency says nearly five million fled into neighboring countries.<\/p>\n
But with the war moving on from Khartoum since the military retook it last year, many of those displaced by the fighting have begun returning home to the capital and other areas where they believe security has improved.<\/p>\n
IOM said on Monday fresh data indicated that 5.15 million people had returned to 76 localities across nine Sudanese states \u2014 up four percent from a month ago.<\/p>\n
Another 8.58 million people remain displaced across the country, it said, pointing out that this was down one percent from last month and about a quarter lower than at the peak of the crisis.<\/p>\n
Despite the decline, \u201cSudan still hosts one of the largest displaced populations in the world,\u201d the agency stressed.<\/p>\n
And ongoing insecurity was continuing to force more people to flee their homes in parts of Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile, it said.<\/p>\n
The IOM nevertheless welcomed the fact that the number of returnees had passed the five-million mark, seeing this as \u201ca rare sign of progress in a prolonged humanitarian crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut getting home is only the start,\u201d IOM chief Amy Pope stressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we don\u2019t help them now, many will be forced to move again. We need to invest in these communities today so people can rebuild their lives and stay.\u201d<\/p>\n
A full 82 percent of the returnees had been displaced inside Sudan, while around 930,000 of them had returned from abroad, mainly from Egypt, South Sudan and Libya, IOM said.<\/p>\n
Half of all returnees are under the age of 18, it added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n