Khartoum begins relocating refugees, foreigners, citing security concerns
May 29, 2025 (KHARTOUM) – Authorities in Sudan’s Khartoum state on Thursday began relocating refugees and other foreigners to three states near Sudan’s borders, part of efforts to remove all foreign nationals from the capital, officials said.
The move follows earlier steps to register refugees for relocation after Khartoum authorities said they confirmed some foreigners, mainly from South Sudan and Ethiopia, had fought alongside the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) during the RSF’s earlier control of the state.
Khartoum Governor Ahmed Osman Hamza told reporters his government had “begun implementing the first phase” of relocating foreigners and refugees from the capital to camps in White Nile, Gedaref, and Kassala states.
The first convoy included a number of Ethiopian refugees residing in Khartoum without formal status, Hamza said.
Before the current conflict erupted in Sudan, the government did not strictly enforce regulations on the residence or employment of foreigners and refugees in residential areas.
Sudan hosts 824,000 refugees, 69% of whom reside in camps, according to an April 24 update from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The relocation will include all foreign nationals without exception, Hamza said, adding they would be received in camps equipped with basic services and prepared in coordination with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and international organisations.
Security forces will continue efforts to apprehend foreign nationals within Khartoum state, the governor added.
Al-Sadiq Suleiman, Assistant Commissioner for Refugees at the Interior Ministry, said the relocation process was coordinated with Khartoum state authorities and that humanitarian aspects for families and children, such as food, healthcare, and shelter, were being provided in the camps.
The relocation of foreigners and refugees from Khartoum will continue over the coming weeks, Suleiman added.
On July 11, 2024, Khartoum state authorities had given foreign nationals two weeks to leave the state, an order that did not see widespread immediate compliance.