Sudan's refugees face 'terrifying' realities on return to war-ravaged Khartoum

Destruction and a dearth of basic services greet displaced Sudanese in capital

Debris covers the grounds of a hospital in Khartoum. The Sudanese capital bears the scars of the war between the army and the RSF. AFP

Muzmil Salah has been charging his mobile phone at a nearby grocery store, where the owner uses solar panels to generate electricity. When Mr Salah wants to call or text, he often runs to the roof of his Khartoum home to find signal.

But that is not the most difficult issue he has had to face since returning to his home two weeks ago from Kassala, in eastern Sudan. He and his family had fled there to escape the war between the country's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

"It's terrifying at night. Homes and streets are engulfed in total darkness. I never leave home after sunset," Mr Salah says.

He insists he will only bring his family back from Kassala once he repairs his war-damaged home, replaces his looted furniture and electrical appliances and, perhaps most importantly, feels that security has improved sufficiently.

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A lack of state-supplied electricity is one of many hardships he has endured, alongside the tens of thousands of Sudanese who have returned to the capital after being displaced abroad or elsewhere in Sudan.

Other challenges include the absence of running water, sky-high food prices, scarce healthcare services and a precarious security situation. The RSF still holds positions on the fringes of the capital, from which long-range artillery is occasionally launched at the Nile-side city.

"I am not sure you will actually get this voice note. My battery is at 18 per cent and the signal is very bad. I may have to run up to the roof to send it," Mr Salah tells The National.

Of Sudan's estimated population of 50 million, at least 13 million have been displaced by the war, according to UN figures. These include about three million who have taken refuge abroad, mostly in neighbouring Egypt, Chad, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.

Recent battlefield victories restored the army's control of the capital's three sister cities – Khartoum, Bahri and Omdurman – and the central, agriculture-rich region of Al Jazirah, south of the capital.

The RSF continues to control all of the vast western region of Darfur, apart from the city of El Fasher, as well as parts of Kordofan to the south-west and the southern Blue Nile area.

There are no reliable figures for the number of displaced Sudanese who have returned home, but they are thought to be in the tens of thousands. In many cases, men return on their own to determine whether it is safe enough for their families to return.

They had fled to escape dangers including artillery and rocket fire, street battles and air strikes.

Since the war began in April 2023, the RSF has been accused of looting, assaulting civilians, torture and arbitrary arrests in the capital. In some cases, the paramilitary's fighters stand accused of killing civilians. Likewise, the army and its allied militias also face allegations of abuse or war crimes. They have been accused of execution-style killings of suspected RSF members or sympathisers in areas of the capital taken back from the RSF.

The US has imposed sanctions on both army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and RSF commander Gen Mohamed Dagalo.

Sudanese who returned to Khartoum have found a city that bears the scars of war, from the charred skeletons of cars, damaged buildings and streets strewn with debris.

"My home has been stripped of its windows, doors, water tank, furniture and the kitchen," says Ali Siddiq, a lecturer at Bahri university who has returned to his home in the Khartoum district of Burri. He lived in Egypt with his family for nearly two years.

"The house's walls need restoration, but it's financially difficult for me at the moment to do the repairs," he adds.

"Most markets in my area are shut and my neighbours haven't come back. The city is deserted, mostly damaged. It's terrifying to live here."

Others, including Ezzedeen Youssef from Khartoum's Al Qadissiya district, are so shocked by the conditions in the city that they have urged friends and family to stay away.

Mukhtar Mohammed, from Khartoum's Al Azhary district, says families with small children or elderly relatives should not return because of the lack of healthcare services.

"There's also the harassment we face at army checkpoints," Mr Ezzedeen adds. "They ask too many questions, many of them unnecessary."

Al Shafie Ahmed reported from Kampala, Uganda