KHARTOUM / Adel Abdel Rahim / Anadolu

The Hope Committee for Voluntary Return in Sudan announced on Monday the return of 900 Sudanese from Egypt to their homeland via 18 buses that were dispatched as part of a humanitarian initiative to assist those wishing to return.

The committee's head, Maher Majid al-Zain, said in a statement to the Sudanese News Agency (SUNA) that 900 Sudanese were transported on 18 buses from Egypt to Sudan, raising the number of returnees via the committee to 25,000, who were transported on 508 buses.

He explained that the trip that departed today bears the number 29, as part of the voluntary return initiative for those wishing to return to Sudan.

He described the voluntary return initiative as 'a decisive humanitarian and national step to alleviate their suffering and rebuild the social fabric,' noting an increase in demand for it.

He added that the operations of voluntarily returning Sudanese to their country are carried out under the auspices of the General Secretariat of the Zakat Chamber (governmental).

For his part, the head of the Return Home Committee at the Zakat Chamber, Al-Amin Abdel Qader, said in a statement to SUNA that the chamber continues to implement the project to complete the return of 10,000 citizens.

He pointed out that the transportation trips will be organized in convoys comprising land buses to various regions of Sudan.

On Thursday, 800 Sudanese returned from Greater Cairo governorates to their homeland via 18 buses, while on July 4 of this month, 1,174 Sudanese returned under the Hope programs for voluntary return.

Since the outbreak of war in Sudan in April 2023, more than 1.2 million Sudanese have left for Egypt, according to official estimates, while about 5 million Sudanese were residing there before the war, making Egypt one of the main destinations for those fleeing the fighting.

By the end of 2025, about 428,676 people had voluntarily returned to Sudan, according to figures previously announced by Ambassador Abdel Qader Abdullah, following an initiative launched by the Egyptian authorities in October of the same year to transport Sudanese wishing to return via a dedicated train from Cairo to Aswan.

The war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, ongoing since 2023 due to disagreements over integrating the latter into the military institution, has left one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of about 13 million people.

The Hope Committee for Voluntary Return, a grassroots humanitarian initiative, works in coordination with Sudanese state institutions to facilitate safe and dignified voluntary return.