Sudan tops global displacement record with 11.6m forced from homes amid escalating conflict
The power struggle, initially concentrated in Khartoum and Darfur, has since spread to several regions, leaving destruction, loss of life and widespread displacement in its wake.
Sudan has recorded the highest number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) ever documented in a single country, with 11.6 million people forced to flee their homes in 2024 amid a worsening civil war.
The 2025 Global Report on Internal Displacement, published by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), has attributed the rise in displacement to relentless fighting that erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
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The power struggle, initially concentrated in Khartoum and Darfur, has since spread to several regions, leaving destruction, loss of life and widespread displacement in its wake.
"Sudan continued to host the largest number of IDPs globally at 11.6 million, and the humanitarian situation in the country deteriorated as conflict persisted," the report reads.
The report also notes that many IDPs in Sudan and other affected regions face limited access to basic services, including shelter, food, healthcare and clean water
Globally, sub-Saharan Africa recorded 19.3 million internal displacements in 2024, more than any other region. Many of the newly displaced persons added to those already living in displacement, which reached a record 38.8 million at the end of the year, around 46 per cent of the global total
The report also shows that conflict and violence remain the primary drivers of internal displacement worldwide.
In 2024, 12.3 million people were displaced due to conflict, with nearly 60 per cent of those cases originating from Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Palestine.
"All of the 23 countries that recorded conflict displacements also registered movements triggered by disasters, sometimes affecting the same people, as in Nigeria's Borno," the report reads.
The report adds that natural disasters led to a record 7.8 million displacements in the period under review.
'Nearly 85 per cent were associated with floods, which were particularly severe in West and Central Africa and the White Nile basin. Chad recorded the highest figures. Southern Africa was affected by severe drought," the report reads.
"Several countries in the Lake Chad Basin recorded their highest number of flood displacements. Niger registered almost 1.2 million. The southern region of Maradi was the worst affected, with the destruction of more than 42,000 homes leading to 353,000 movements."
The IDMC has since called for urgent international intervention, sustained humanitarian funding and diplomatic pressure to de-escalate conflicts driving mass displacement.
"The growing scale, spread, and impacts of the phenomenon justify it receiving more visibility and attention in national and international policy debates," said IDMC.
"As crises become more and more complex without the financial resources needed to address them, it becomes more imperative than ever to scale-up efforts to prevent further movements and resolve IDPs' plight."
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