Sudan region: politics and returns
- Peace monitors warned South Sudan's political transition is stalled and urged urgent national dialogue as the government pushes December elections. - The International Organisation for Migration says nearly four million displaced people have returned home in Sudan to destroyed services and damaged housing. - Observers cautioned elections without an inclusive settlement could deepen instability, and Liberia urged a better‑resourced UN peacekeeping mission (radiotamazuj.org) (theeastafrican.co.ke) (anewz.tv) (allafrica.com).
South Sudan’s peace monitors say the transition has stalled, even as the government presses ahead with elections planned for December 2026. (radiotamazuj.org) The Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission said in a report covering January 1 to March 31, 2026 that implementation of the 2018 peace deal remained slow, with political tensions, ceasefire violations and a worsening humanitarian situation. It called for urgent, inclusive national dialogue. (radiotamazuj.org) Pressure is moving in the other direction too. Russia backed Juba’s election push this week, and diplomats said South Sudanese electoral officials are set to receive training in Moscow as the vote approaches. (theeastafrican.co.ke) The election timetable sits on top of a transition that has already slipped once. South Sudan’s parties postponed the vote from December 2024 to December 2026 and extended the transition to February 2027, saying they still needed a census, a permanent constitution and party registration. (news.un.org) At the United Nations on April 17, diplomats described a country still under heavy strain. Liberia called for a “clear, focused, and adequately resourced” United Nations peacekeeping mission, while the Security Council heard that UNMISS faces budget pressure as insecurity worsens. (pmun.gov.lr) (press.un.org) Across the border in Sudan, the movement is in the opposite direction: people are going home. The International Organization for Migration said on April 21 that nearly 4 million displaced people have voluntarily returned, but many are finding damaged homes, broken water systems, weak health services and little electricity. (iom.int) Those returns follow three years of war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, which began on April 15, 2023. UN figures say nearly 12 million people fled affected areas at the height of the conflict, more than 4.5 million crossed borders, and almost 9 million people remain displaced inside Sudan. (news.un.org) The biggest return flows have come from places hit hard early in the war, including Khartoum, Al Jazirah, Sennar and parts of Kordofan. IOM said many families are returning without the services or livelihoods needed to make those moves stick. (news.un.org) (iom.int) Taken together, the two Sudans are facing opposite tests at the same time: South Sudan is being pushed toward a vote before key parts of its peace deal are finished, while Sudan is seeing mass returns before basic recovery is in place. The next deadlines are close — a UNMISS mandate renewal by April 30 and South Sudan’s planned election in December 2026. (securitycouncilreport.org) (radiotamazuj.org)
