Sudan urges UN to help millions returning to retaken areas

October 11, 2025 (GENEVA) – Sudan on Saturday urged United Nations agencies to help provide for 2.2 million people who have returned to their homes in areas recaptured by the army from paramilitary forces, the country’s representative in Geneva said.

Some 1.7 million of the returnees were internally displaced, while the rest came back from neighbouring countries, including Egypt, South Sudan, and Chad, after the army regained control of Khartoum, Sennar, and Al Jazirah states.

Ambassador Hassan Hamid appealed at a briefing organized by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which included the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

“The government is currently working to provide for the immediate needs of returnees, including basic services,” Hamid said, the state-run Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reported on Saturday

He called on humanitarian organizations to implement urgent projects, noting that government priorities include restoring basic services, rehabilitating facilities destroyed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and preparing the country for more returnees.

Since the army retook full control of Khartoum state in May, the government has worked to restore water, health, and education services while rebuilding damaged infrastructure, including the capital’s international airport.

Some 815,000 people have returned to Khartoum, with another 2.9 million expected to follow, the government says.

Hamid also urged international bodies to support the Ministry of Health’s efforts to combat a dengue fever outbreak, citing the “systematic destruction” of the health sector.

The representative condemned what he called the “militia’s atrocities,” accusing the RSF of using siege and starvation as weapons to kill or displace civilians in defiance of international appeals, including U.N. Security Council Resolution 2736.

The Security Council resolution demands the RSF lift its siege on El Fasher in North Darfur, which has been in place since April 2024. The blockade has cut off food and medicine to the city, which still shelters more than 260,000 civilians.

Hamid said the RSF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) are also jointly blockading Dilling and Kadugli in South Kordofan state, preventing almost all aid from reaching the two cities.