Sudan relocates refugees to camps as border influx tops 200,000
December 3, 2025 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese authorities continued their campaign to relocate South Sudanese refugees from Khartoum to border camps on Wednesday, even as fresh clashes in South Sudan drove a new wave of displacement across the border.
The government has intensified efforts to transfer refugees from Khartoum and Al Jazirah states to the White Nile State, part of a broader crackdown on foreign nationals residing in the country illegally.
On Wednesday, the Khartoum State refugee commission organised its 28th convoy, transferring 67 refugees from the Soba district, east of Khartoum, to camps in the White Nile State. The convoy included buses for passengers and trucks for belongings, escorted by security patrols.
Officials said the relocations are being conducted in coordination with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Surge in arrivals
Despite the push to move refugees out of urban centres, the influx from the south has accelerated. Since late February, political instability and rising hostilities in South Sudan, particularly in the Upper Nile State, have pushed over 208,000 people into Sudan.
This figure includes an estimated 76,000 South Sudanese refugees seeking safety from new clashes. The majority of these new arrivals—43%—have settled in the White Nile State, compounding the pressure on already crowded camps.
Others have scattered across the border regions: 23% have entered the Blue Nile region, 14% are in South Kordofan, 12% in West Kordofan, and 6% in East Darfur, with smaller numbers reaching North and South Darfur.
Aid agencies report that movements at the Joda border crossing remain spontaneous but have proceeded without major incidents.
Reverse migration
The volatile situation has created a complex cross-border flow. While refugees flee north into Sudan, the violence in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State, coupled with severe food shortages, has forced 132,000 Sudanese nationals to return home.
The UNHCR said 90,000 of these returnees have headed to the Blue Nile region, reversing their flight from Sudan’s own conflict which erupted in April 2023.
To support the growing population, the UNHCR announced on Tuesday a large-scale, Italian-funded solar energy project to improve water access for over 400,000 refugees and host community members in the White Nile State.