Sudan’s Endless Exodus and the Cruel Geometry of the Refugee Loop

TL;DR

Sudan's ongoing war has displaced millions, creating a cycle of displacement that has become a political tool, requiring lasting political solutions to break.

Contribution

The paper introduces the concept of displacement as a political mechanism sustaining power in Sudan.

Findings

Over 12 million people have been displaced due to Sudan's war since April 2023.

Displacement has become a political arrangement that sustains power through abandonment.

Restoring living conditions and enforcing ceasefires are critical to breaking the displacement cycle.

Abstract

Sudan faces the world’s largest displacement crisis. Since the war began in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, more than 12 million people have been forced from their homes. This movement of people, described as Sudan’s 'refugee loop', has created a pattern of flight, temporary refuge, and unsafe return that reveals how violence and neglect have become deeply organised into daily life. Camps inside and outside Sudan now mark the geography of this collapse, where famine, disease, and the deaths of children unfold with little international attention. Hospitals lie in ruins, schools remain closed, and farmlands are barren. The article argues that this crisis is no longer only humanitarian. It has become a political arrangement in which displacement itself holds the country together, sustaining power through abandonment and silence. Breaking Sudan’s displacement cycle means restoring the conditions that let people live and stay. That begins with political commitment that lasts beyond headlines, and ceasefires that are enforced rather than declared. Neighbouring states carrying the weight of Sudan’s refugees also need real help to keep their systems from breaking. Without these efforts, displacement will harden into a permanent way of life. The real measure of progress is whether people can return home and find more than ruins waiting for them.