538,000 Sudanese have returned from Egypt, while others remain hesitant due to security and service concerns.

May 10, 2026 (PEN) More than 538,000 people returned to Sudan from Egypt between January 2024 and February 2026, according to a report by the International Organization for Migration issued last April, representing about 87% of the total returnees from neighboring countries.

Despite the successive waves of voluntary return, Ghada Hassan, a Sudanese woman in her forties, says that the decision to return is still difficult for her because of her son’s treatment journey after he was injured during the war, and the difficulty of obtaining services in Khartoum compared to Cairo.

Ghada, a teacher at a Sudanese international school in Cairo, explained that the two-hour daily power cuts in Egypt, compared to the long outages and water scarcity in Sudan, make returning difficult for many, even though most Sudanese plan to return in the future.

For his part, African affairs researcher Mohamed Torshin said that the security factor is one of the most prominent obstacles to return, given the continued use of drones by the Rapid Support Forces and the decline in the sense of security, in addition to the failure to fully restore educational and medical services.

Testimonies from Sudanese people in Egypt show that the lack of basic services is pushing many to prefer to stay, especially those with ties to education, medical treatment, or investment.

Official estimates indicate that around one million Sudanese arrived in Egypt after the outbreak of war in April 2023.

Since last December, Egypt has been witnessing security campaigns to deport residency violators, which has prompted some families to return voluntarily, while others are waiting for conditions to improve before making a decision to return.