Ce qu’il faut retenir
Seventy-one children arrived in Renk County, South Sudan, on 21 October, ending an agonising eight-day separation from their mothers expelled by Sudanese police on 13 October. Local authorities coordinated the reunion after securing the minors in Khartoum.
Nearly 300 South-Sudanese nationals have been returned through the Joda crossing in one week, according to county officials, illustrating the scale of Sudan’s crackdown on foreigners without valid residency.
Khartoum’s interior ministry estimates that up to 20 000 foreigners could face deportation, a figure that alarms humanitarian agencies already stretched by conflict-driven displacement since April 2023.
Context and Drivers
The mass returns unfold against the backdrop of Sudan’s civil war, which has pushed more than a million people—including 800 000 South-Sudanese—to seek safety south of the border. Yet tens of thousands remained in Khartoum, attracted by jobs or trapped by fighting.
Sudan’s security forces have intensified street and door-to-door checks, citing national security and overstayed visas. Observers in Juba note that the campaign also reflects pressure on limited urban services in a capital battered by months of shelling and economic paralysis.
Timeline of the Expulsions
On 13 October, police units in Khartoum’s Bahri and Omdurman districts detained scores of South-Sudanese women after impromptu documentation checks. Children present at schools or with relatives were left behind, witnesses say.
Between 14 and 20 October, three convoys escorted roughly 300 deportees to the Joda border post, where South-Sudanese officials screened arrivals before transferring them to Renk. The reunion of 71 children with their mothers on 21 October marked the first large-scale family restoration since the campaign began.
Principal Actors
Sudan’s interior ministry and Khartoum state police spearhead the deportations, while the Sudanese Armed Forces maintain overall control of checkpoints surrounding the capital.
On the South-Sudanese side, the Renk County commissioner, the state relief and rehabilitation commission and the interior ministry cooperate to receive citizens, arrange transport and liaise with humanitarian partners such as the UNHCR, which provides interim shelter and child-protection screening.
Possible Scenarios
If Khartoum sustains its residency sweep, South Sudan could see a sudden influx surpassing current border-camp capacity, deepening food and health pressures already compounded by floods and budget constraints.
Conversely, a negotiated pause—facilitated by regional mediators—could allow orderly, documented returns, reducing family separations and enabling aid agencies to pre-position supplies along the Nile corridor. Diplomats in Addis Ababa hint that the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development may table the issue at its next council meeting.
Regional and Diplomatic Stakes
The episode tests the resilience of the 2012 Cooperation Agreement, which grants four freedoms—movement, residence, economic activity and property—to nationals of both Sudans. Analysts argue that mass expulsions risk eroding the pact’s already fragile legitimacy.
Neighbouring states watching migratory pressures, notably Ethiopia and Uganda, are concerned that abrupt returns could redirect displaced families onto their territories, complicating regional security and humanitarian planning.
Human Stories Behind the Numbers
Mary Nyayang, clutching her three-year-old son outside Renk transit centre, said the reunion “felt like waking from a nightmare”. She had been forced onto a truck with no chance to retrieve her child staying with neighbours in Bahri.
Social workers report signs of trauma among the reunited children, including sleep disorders and separation anxiety. Yet community elders in Renk emphasise the cultural duty to absorb relatives, underscoring a social safety net that partly offsets scarce institutional resources.
With schools in Khartoum closed and livelihoods disrupted, several mothers told local radio they intend to settle permanently in Upper Nile State, highlighting a potential demographic shift that South-Sudanese planners must now factor into post-conflict reconstruction strategies.
