Sudanese Refugee Crisis (2023–present)

An ongoing refugee crisis began in Africa in mid-April 2023 after the outbreak of the Sudanese civil war. By the end of 2024, around 4.1 million people have fled the country, while around 16 million have been internally displaced within Sudan; these numbers include at least 75,000 migrant returnees and other third-country nationals, making the refugee and displacement crisis in Sudan the largest in African history.

The vast majority of these civilians entered the neighboring country of Chad with the United Nations reporting most of these people came from Darfur and Khartoum, but thousands more moved to other countries. By May 2024, the UN reported at least 675,000 refugees in South Sudan, 500,000–550,000 in Egypt, 75,000 people in Ethiopia, 30,000 in the Central African Republic, 600,000 in Chad, and 3,500 in Libya. Some 11.6 million people were reportedly stuck or displaced across the country owing to the increase in violence and a humanitarian crisis that affected 25 million people, equivalent to more than half of Sudan’s population.

Background

On 15 April 2023, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched a surprise attack on multiple Sudanese Army bases across the country, including in the capital Khartoum. RSF forces claimed to have captured Khartoum International Airport, Merowe Airport, El Obeid Airport as well as a base in Soba. Clashes between the RSF and the SAF erupted at the Presidential Palace and at the residence of General al-Burhan, with both sides claiming control over the two sites. In response, the SAF announced the closure of all airports in the country, and the Sudanese Air Force conducted airstrikes on RSF positions in Khartoum with artillery fire being heard in different parts of the city. Fighting continued in the following weeks and spread to the Darfur region, which was recovering from an internal conflict and genocide in the 2000s, and in the Kordofan region, where remnants of South Sudanese separatist groups joined sides with either the SAF or the RSF.

Refugees before the Sudanese civil war (2023–present)

Before the conflict, thousands of refugees had fled Sudan during old conflicts, mainly its civil wars or the wars in Darfur leaving at least 400,000 Sudanese across the Chadian border and hundreds of thousands more in neighboring countries such as South Sudan and Egypt.

Refugee movements

Internally-displaced people

The United Nations said on 23 December that the fighting in Sudan had produced 5.6 million internally displaced persons. 1.7 million of them were reported to have fled or been displaced from Khartoum alone. Some of them faced difficulties such as the presence of roadblocks and robberies along the roads. The Norwegian Refugee Council said that there were about 300 refugees from Khartoum who had fled southeast to El-Gadarif. 3,000 refugees from Khartoum fled to Tunay bah refugee camp, which already hosts 28,000 Ethiopian refugees, in eastern Sudan, while at least 20,000 fled to Wad Madani. Up to 260,000 people fled to White Nile State, which borders South Sudan. Up to 37,000 people were thought to have been displaced across Nyala, the capital of South Darfur. The IOM said that all of Sudan's 18 states experienced displacement, with most refugees coming from Khartoum, which accounted for about 69 percent of the total number of displaced people, followed by West Darfur with more than 17 percent.

More than 32,000 people were internally displaced when fighting between the SAF and the rebel SPLM-N (al-Hilu faction) broke out in Blue Nile State in June, while 83,000 were displaced in South Kordofan.

Countries

Chad

On 15 April, Chad reported thousands of refugees coming past the now closed border between the nation and Sudan. Over the following days the UN reported a massive influx of refugees crossing mainly from Darfur amounting to 20,000 people by 19 April, more than 90,000 by late May, 115,000 by June, and 239,000 by July. The UN announced later on that the refugees lacked basic needs such as food and shelter. Reports also suggested that the majority of them were women and children. More than 160,000 of them were members of the Masalit ethnic group who were fleeing ethnically-based attacks by the RSF and allied militias. By August, the number of refugees had reached over 414,000, making it the single largest host country for refugees from the conflict.

Sudan

On 5 June 2025, the Freedom Flotilla, which is a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza during the Israel-Hamas conflict, rescued 4 Sudanese civil war refugees from a dinghy near Libya. At the time of their rescue, the flotilla was carrying several prominent members to Gaza including Greta Thunberg, Irish actor Liam Cunningham, and French European Parliament member Rima Hassan.

South Sudan

On 24 April 2023, South Sudan's Renk County reported thousands of refugees seeking shelter in the country. Authorities estimated the volume of refugees to be at least 10,000 people, three-quarters of whom were South Sudanese who had previously fled north to escape internal conflicts and the rest consisting of Sudanese and other African nationals. The refugees were primarily women and children who also lacked several basic needs. Authorities reported that the refugees included South Sudanese, Sudanese, Ugandan, Kenyan, Eritrean and Somali nationals. By June, the number of refugees had risen to over 115,000, and more than 259,000 by September.

Egypt

On 23 April 2023, hundreds of civilians were reported to have arrived at the Egyptian border mainly in buses, with most of them again being women and children who had fled from war-torn cities. These people were given asylum and Egypt urged civilians to go to its land border crossing at Wadi Halfa or to Port Sudan for evacuation or safety. Egypt said that 42,300 people, 40,000 of whom were Sudanese, had entered the country from Sudan. The number increased to 64,000 by 9 May. Two camps operated by the Red Crescent were set up to provide aid to refugees. By August, the UN estimated the total number of refugees in Egypt at 285,000. Following the imposition of visa requirements on 10 June for all Sudanese citizens, 12,000 families were stranded in the Wadi Halfa border crossing while their visas were being processed by the Egyptian consulate. Within 19 months of conflict, Egypt had received over 1.2 million Sudanese refugees.

Other countries

More than 75,000 people fled to Ethiopia, including 1,400 Turkish nationals. The country later started receiving up to 3,000 refugees when fighting between the SAF and the SPLM-N (al-Hilu) broke out in June, while 25,000 others were stranded at the Sudanese side of the border by September. About 17,000 people fled to the Central African Republic, while at least 3,500 fled to Libya. About 3,000 people were evacuated to Djibouti.

Controversy

Criticism was levelled at diplomatic missions operating in Sudan for their slow response in helping Sudanese visa applicants whose passports were left behind in embassies following their closure during evacuation efforts, preventing them from leaving the country. The latest report issued at the end of 2024 stated that 30.4 million people in Sudan are in need of humanitarian aid.

On 7 May 2023, ''The Guardian'' reported that hundreds of Eritrean refugees had been taken away from camps near the Eritrean-Sudanese border. Several Eritrean civilians said the Eritrean Army had taken several civilians back into the country forcefully. Some of those detained were reported to be political refugees who had fled the Afwerki regime and forced conscription in the national army. 95 people were sentenced to prison with severe punishments ahead of them, eight being women.

Ethiopians who Ethiopian refugees in Sudan, fled to Sudan as refugees of the Tigray War would sometimes find themselves victimized again upon arrival, this time by human traffickers. A number of refugees had testified to being kidnapped, regularly tortured, and transported to warehouses in Libya, where many would die due to poor living conditions. This situation worsened further after Sudan itself descended into violence in 2023, placing them at further risk of being kidnapped.

See also

* 2023 Sudan conflict
* Battle of Khartoum (2023)
* Battle of Geneina (2023)
* Evacuation of foreign nationals during the war in Sudan (2023)
* Operation Kaveri

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sudanese refugee crisis, 2023
Impacts of the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Refugee crisis
April 2023 in Sudan, Refugee crisis
Sudanese refugees, 2023
Migrant crises
Foreign relations of Sudan
Refugees by war