Published On 4/28/2026
On Tuesday, 21 return flights for Sudanese refugees were launched from a number of Egyptian governorates from Egypt to Sudan as part of voluntary return trips for refugees and displaced persons.
Muhammad Abbas, a member of the “Hope Committee for Voluntary Return,” which organizes the trips, told Al Jazeera that 21 trips were launched on Tuesday and included more than a thousand people.
He added that 10 buses moved from the center of the Egyptian capital, while 5 buses moved from the Al-Haram neighborhood in Giza Governorate, and two trips departed from Alexandria in northern Egypt, while 3 buses departed from Aswan Governorate in the far south of Egypt, explaining that each bus contained 49 passengers.
The voluntary return project began in April 2025 under the auspices of the President of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and under the supervision of the Sudanese defense industries system.
Promoting voluntary return
Despite the difficult health and environmental conditions in Sudan, the relative security stability thanks to the deployment of police forces helped promote voluntary returns, especially from abroad. Egypt has topped the list of countries hosting Sudanese since the outbreak of the war, but indicators of returns from there to Sudan are increasing.
According to the United Nations, about 4 million people have voluntarily returned to their homes in Sudan despite the continuing war, warning of serious challenges facing them.
The ongoing war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, which has entered its fourth year, has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people, caused the displacement of more than 12 million people within the country, and pushed more than 4 million others to flee to neighboring countries, according to the International Organization for Migration.
The International Organization for Migration is seeking to raise $170 million for the 2026 Sudan Crisis Response Plan, but this plan still suffers from a funding shortfall of $97.2 million, according to the organization.
