Key facts
- Over 2 million Sudanese have returned to Khartoum in the year since the army recaptured it.
- Despite promises of normalcy, Khartoum still suffers from widespread power outages and damaged infrastructure.
- Many returnees, including civil servants and students, have not been paid.
- Some individuals returned due to crackdowns on refugees in neighboring Egypt.
- Ongoing RSF drone strikes continue to disrupt power restoration efforts.
In the year since the Sudanese army recaptured Khartoum from paramilitary forces, over 2 million of the 5 million residents who fled have returned. However, the capital remains unprepared to welcome them back, with widespread power outages, damaged buildings, and unpaid workers hindering a return to normal life.
Authorities have ordered civil servants and students to return to their posts and classrooms, but many face significant challenges. Nisreen Altayeb, a teacher who returned with her family after facing crackdowns on refugees in Egypt, noted the irony of leaving Sudan for safety only to find similar insecurity abroad. She, like many government employees, has not received her salary.
Recovery efforts are concentrated in Omdurman, while Khartoum and Bahri cities largely lack electricity and other essential services. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continue to target power stations with drone strikes, reducing the capital's electricity capacity to one-third of its pre-war level, with power provided for only eight hours a day.
Students returning to the University of Khartoum have found labs, lecture halls, and dormitories still damaged by the conflict. Small business owners in the vital Souq al-Arabi market are also under pressure to reopen and pay taxes, despite lacking basic services like power, leading to low incomes. Business owners are requesting tax collection be postponed to help them cover costs, though the government states revenue is needed for essential services.