{"id":39269,"date":"2026-07-10T12:08:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T10:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=39269"},"modified":"2026-07-10T12:08:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T10:08:39","slug":"sudanese-return-home-to-a-capital-unready-to-welcome-them","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/sudanese-return-home-to-a-capital-unready-to-welcome-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Sudanese return home to a capital unready to welcome them"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"uSg02\">\n<div class=\"DrnCK\">\n<div class=\"HwXOf\">\n<div class=\"kcAOr t9ThB\" data-testid=\"RecipientWell\">\n<div data-tabster=\"{&quot;mover&quot;:{&quot;cyclic&quot;:false,&quot;direction&quot;:2,&quot;memorizeCurrent&quot;:false}}\">\n<div id=\"MSG_wAEiJ02TAAA_TO\" class=\"___sj378o0 fly5x3f f1l02sjl f113hnb5\" role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"3\">\n<div id=\"10\" class=\"EditorClass ___18acxwi ftgm304 fr7e4de f1ids18y f1ohdurq f1fa7rqs f10pi13n f1a3p1vp fkhj508 f1hu3pq6 f11qmguv fly5x3f f1g0x7ka fhxju0i f1qch9an f1cnd47f f19f4twv f1tyq0we fz5stix g7toD\" tabindex=\"-1\" role=\"presentation\" aria-multiline=\"true\" aria-readonly=\"true\" aria-label=\"To: Bomkazi Malobola\">\u200bIn the year since the Sudanese army recaptured the capital Khartoum from a paramilitary force that had seized it \u200cat the outset of civil war in 2023, more than two million of the five million people who fled their homes in the city have returned.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-test-id=\"mailMessageBodyContainer\">\n<div class=\"XbIp4 jmmB7 customScrollBar GNqVo allowTextSelection\">\n<div id=\"UniqueMessageBody_9\" class=\"OuGoX BIZfh\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"document\" aria-label=\"Message body\" aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"false\" data-fui-focus-visible=\"\">\n<div class=\"rps_c739\">\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div>But although the authorities promised a quick restoration of normal life after their military victory, power is still mostly out, buildings remain damaged and workers are going unpaid. Some say they have \u200bcome back only as a last resort, fleeing a crackdown on refugees in neighbouring Egypt.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The government, which had evacuated ministries and \u200badministrative offices to the coastal city of Port Sudan, has ordered civil servants to return to work in Khartoum. \u2060<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Students, who had been offered classes online and permitted to take their exams at temporary centres in other cities or abroad, have been \u200btold to return to classrooms.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Nisreen Altayeb, who fled to Egypt with her family, decided to return after a crackdown on refugees there that began around \u200bthe start of the year.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cWe left Sudan in the first place because of the lack of security, but then we started finding the same thing. It wasn\u2019t safe in Egypt,\u201d Altayeb said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>When they heard that the situation in Sudan was improving, she and her family decided to return. She is trying to return to her \u200bwork as a schoolteacher, but like many government employees, she has not been paid even her meager salary.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Signs of recovery have so \u200bfar been concentrated in Omdurman, Khartoum\u2019s sister city across the White Nile, where the army had maintained partial control. Khartoum proper, as well as Bahri city to \u200cthe \u2060north, remain largely without electricity and other services.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The Rapid Support Forces has continued targeting power stations and military installations around Khartoum with drone strikes, hindering recovery.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":22894,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-39269","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"","published_date":"","news_description":"Sudanese army recaptured the capital Khartoum","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39272,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39269\/revisions\/39272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=39269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}