Refugees of Sudan

Deliberate displacement has been a recurring feature of Sudan’s history, used by successive authorities to advance political, economic, and military objectives. Such practices can be traced back to the nineteenth century and continued under both colonial rule and post-independence governments, often justified on grounds of security, development, or urban planning. As a result, entire communities have repeatedly been uprooted during periods of conflict as well as in times formally described as peace. In host countries, refugees were primarily settled in planned rural settlements developed with support from UNHCR. Over time, many of these settlements developed basic infrastructure and services and were intended to promote a degree of self sufficiency. that ended the First Sudanese Civil War. Second Sudanese Civil War With the outbreak of the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005), violence in Southern Sudan intensified and security conditions deteriorated. As a result, many Ugandan refugees living in Southern Sudan returned to Uganda, while large numbers of Southern Sudanese also fled across the border into Uganda. As in the first civil war, many people displaced within Southern Sudan did not leave the country but remained internally displaced, often under extremely harsh conditions. During this war, a new conflict erupted in 2003 in Sudan’s western Darfur region. The violence caused hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths and forced millions of people from Darfur to flee both within Sudan and abroad. making it the largest displacement crisis in the world. ==Reasons for fleeing==

i refugee camp in Chad The movement of populations within and around the territory of modern-day Sudan and its neighbors for trade, opportunity, climatic variations, and conflicts is not unique to recent or contemporary history. But these movements have intensified and become more concentrated for reasons including prolonged civil war, violence between various populations along ethnic and political lines, droughts and subsequent famines in the 1980s, and humanitarian emergencies and famine caused by improper responses to previous crises by international aid organizations. Movements of people are also inherently more problematic across international boundaries, which may be contradictory to natural population flows within the region. People from Sudan have fled their homes for a range of reasons. Armed conflict Civil wars have been the main cause of displacement from Sudan. These conflicts have displaced millions of people, either to the outskirts of towns within the country or to neighboring states and farther abroad, often amid recurrent violence linked to tribal and ethnic tensions. Forced conscription Fear of forced conscription is another reason for Sudanese people to flee, and was already described as such in 2014. and was already described as such in 2014. Since April 2023, forced recruitment by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has been reported as a driver of displacement. Since the outbreak of the war in April 2023, the RSF has intensified recruitment campaigns in areas under its control, especially in Darfur, Kordofan, and Gezira State, and has often targeted men and boys through abductions, coercion, and threats. Reports have described people being taken from homes, villages, and camps for internally displaced persons and forced into combat or support roles under threat of execution or torture. Those who refused recruitment or tried to escape faced killings, torture, enforced disappearance, and other reprisals, while communities associated with them were also subjected to looting, torching, sexual violence, and forced displacement. Young males, displaced persons, and people in RSF-held areas were considered especially vulnerable. ==Internally displaced Sudanese==

Historically, refugee assistance programs in Sudan relied on the definition of a refugee as one who had crossed an international frontier. This definition is increasingly inappropriate worldwide and especially so in Sudanic Africa, where the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) exceeded the number of refugees. As of 2016, an estimated 3.2 million Sudanese were IDPs, and another 78,000 were in IDP-like situations. 300,000 of these IDPs were newly displaced in the first months of 2013 due to renewed intertribal conflict. Continuing insecurity, combined with government restrictions on humanitarian access in the Darfur region, South Kordofan, and the Blue Nile States, hampered UNHCR's activities. Before April 2023, the number of IDPs were estimated at 3.8 million. Following the outbreak of the 2023 Sudan conflict, by November 2025 the number of IDPs had increased to 7.26 million. ==Host countries==

Chad Egypt Sudanese migration to Egypt has a long history, driven by the search for safety as well as economic opportunities. Sudanese refugees began arriving in Egypt after the outbreak of the first Sudanese civil war in 1955. Egypt served as an appealing place of refuge for many of these displaced people, owing both to the close historical ties between the two countries and to Egypt’s fairly well developed economy and education system. Conditions in Egypt for Sudanese refugees were challenging. Many were not formally recognized as refugees. Housing costs were high, South Sudan By January 2025, more than one million people had fled the war in Sudan to seek refuge in neighbouring South Sudan. Over 770,000 people had reportedly fled through the Joda crossing on South Sudan’s northern border with Sudan in the 21 months preceding January 2025. By November 2025, there was severe food insecurity and high levels of malnutrition amid ongoing conflict and displacement in South Sudan. Recurrent flooding had disrupted livelihoods and agricultural production. The continued arrivals from Sudan, alongside returning South Sudanese nationals, placed additional pressure on already strained markets, services, and natural resources, while a prolonged economic crisis sharply reduced household purchasing power. These conditions were further aggravated by disease outbreaks, limited access to health care, and inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene services. Kenya In 2009, an estimated 400,000 Sudanese refugees lived in Kenya. Kakuma is the site of a UNHCR refugee camp in Kenya. Ethiopia Ethiopia shelters about 70,000 refugees from Sudan, most of whom live in refugee camps in the Benishangul-Gumuz and Gambela Regions. Uganda By October 2025, more than 91,563 Sudanese refugees were officially registered in the country. Israel Beginning in 2006, thousands of Sudanese asylum seekers crossed into Israel from Egypt after fleeing conflict in Sudan and deteriorating conditions in their first country of asylum. Their status in Israel has remained precarious, marked by restrictive asylum policies, low recognition rates, periods of detention, Australia In 2007, an estimated 23,000 Sudanese refugees lived in Australia. == Aid ==

Issues Due to the shortages in UNHCR assistance to Sudanese refugees, some Church groups have opened learning centers for refugee children. Furthermore, churches also offer training programs for adult refugees, provide food rations to families, in addition to financial assistance, health services, and job placement. With respect to those Sudanese living in shantytowns in Greater Khartoum or in other urban areas of Africa and the Middle East, remittances provided by kin resettledin Western countries have become an essential part of the overall income needed to meet daily subsistence and other critical needs. Urban refugees’ reliance on cash assistance from abroad is seen as a unique situation since there are few NGOs and humanitarian-based support mechanisms available to adequately meet the needs of refugees in Cairo, Beirut, Damascus, and elsewhere on Sudan's periphery. ==Durable solutions==

Resettlement Whereas earlier waves of Sudanese refugees found asylum first in neighbouring countries, contemporary Sudanese refugees use these countries as a springboard for resettlement in a third country. Some refugees find themselves moving between different countries in the region in order to increase their chances for resettlement. Repatriation Repatriation of Sudanese refugees remains difficult given the ongoing conflict and tensions in Darfur and South Sudan. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement is viewed as the principal determinant of peace and stability in Sudan. This pact paved the way for the return of thousands of Sudanese refugees from neighboring countries. In South Sudan, armed groups like Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and intertribal clashes have produced increased levels of violence. The patterns of violence point to a clear targeting of women and children. This presents a definite obstacle to repatriation. In Darfur, insecurity, land occupation, and crop destruction continue to generate fresh displacement and prevent returns. == Hosting refugees ==

During the civil war between Eritrea and Ethiopia, many traveled to Sudan as refugees. These camps had a very harsh environment, medicine and clean water were scarce. Some survived on other nations. (e.g. UN Rations). As of 2016, there were 232,000 South Sudanese refugees in Sudan. ==See also==