Nearly 1,000 Sudanese nationals returned home from Egypt on Monday under an organised voluntary repatriation programme, as more people displaced by Sudan’s ongoing conflict begin the journey back to their country.
According to Sudan’s state news agency, SUNA, a total of 980 Sudanese departed Cairo aboard 20 buses under the “Hope for Voluntary Return” initiative.
The return operation was coordinated by the committee overseeing the programme, with the buses departing from the Al-Matba’a area and Al-Aziziyah Square in Cairo’s Abdeen district.
Maher al-Zein, who heads the committee’s transportation unit, said the programme would continue to support Sudanese nationals in Egypt who wish to voluntarily return home.
He added that transportation arrangements for university lecturers and students would begin on Thursday to enable them to participate in the new academic year in Sudan.
The recent departure is the latest in a series of organised returns from Egypt in recent weeks. The committee said 550 Sudanese returned on August 30, following the return of 1,225 people on August 29 and 882 on August 24.
Earlier, 870 Sudanese nationals returned on August 20, while 1,100 travelled home on August 13. Another 350 people also returned from Alexandria on August 3. In July alone, the committee said 6,074 Sudanese nationals returned through six organised trips.
Egypt has remained one of the main destinations for Sudanese fleeing the conflict that erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Official estimates indicate that more than 1.2 million Sudanese crossed into Egypt following the outbreak of the war.
Sudanese authorities have, however, reported an increasing number of citizens voluntarily returning home. Sudan’s Ambassador, Abdel-Qader Abdullah, previously said about 428,676 Sudanese had returned voluntarily by the end of 2025.
Egyptian authorities also launched an initiative in October 2025 to facilitate the voluntary returns, including dedicated train services transporting Sudanese nationals from Cairo to Aswan for onward journeys to Sudan.
The conflict has triggered one of the world’s most severe humanitarian and displacement crises, forcing millions of Sudanese from their homes and across international borders.
