870 Sudanese nationals leave Egypt for home under voluntary return program

Sudan’s Al-Amal Committee for Voluntary Return said Thursday that 870 Sudanese nationals had left Egypt for Sudan aboard 30 buses departing from Cairo, Alexandria and Aswan, the state-run Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reported.

The Al-Amal Committee is a community-led humanitarian initiative that coordinates with Sudanese state institutions to facilitate the safe and voluntary return of citizens.

Returnees include university professors and students enrolled in Sudanese universities, the committee said.

Maher al-Zein Ahmed, head of the committee’s transport division, said arrangements were underway with businesspeople, institutions, government bodies and humanitarian organizations to support the returning convoys.

Returning to Sudan helps reunite families and ease economic burdens on those coming back, he said.

50,000 returnees

Hassan Khalid, rapporteur for the return committee, said the committee had helped organize the repatriation of roughly 50,000 Sudanese nationals from Egypt to Sudan.

He went on to note that the number of those registering to return has steadily increased.

“The committee is coordinating with the relevant Egyptian authorities to facilitate the convoys and complete return procedures,” he said.

Last week, the committee announced the departure of 22 buses carrying 1,100 Sudanese from Egypt.

Early this month, 350 Sudanese nationals returned from Alexandria aboard seven buses under the same program.

In July, more than 6,000 Sudanese returned from Egypt on six separate convoys, according to the committee’s figures.

Since the war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces broke out in 2023, more than 1.2 million Sudanese have fled to Egypt, according to official estimates.

About 5 million Sudanese nationals were already living in Egypt before the war, making it one of the main destinations for people fleeing the conflict.

By the end of last year, about 428,676 people had voluntarily returned to Sudan, according to figures previously announced by the Sudanese authorities.​​​​​​​

The ongoing war has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, left tens of thousands of people dead, and displaced an estimated 13 million others.