Hosting Over 96,000 Sudanese Refugees; Refugees in Uganda Fly Home to 'Build Buildings for Our Country'

Uganda is bearing the heavy humanitarian pressure of the spillover from the war in Sudan. According to Al Jazeera, UN figures show that this landlocked East African country currently hosts more than 96,000 refugees who fled the fighting in Sudan. A voluntary repatriation program plans to airlift at least 1,300 people back home.

Engineer Jamal Mubarak is one of those refugees about to return. Citing his remarks, Al Jazeera reported that finding work in Uganda was "not easy" for him, but he still chose to go back to his homeland, with the goal of "building buildings for our country." As an engineer, what he is bringing back is not just luggage, but the professional capacity and clear intention to take part in post-war reconstruction.

The burden of hosting refugees from the Sudan conflict has fallen overwhelmingly on Global South neighbors such as Uganda, whose own development resources are already stretched thin. This distribution of burden exposes a structural imbalance in international responsibility: the conflict takes place in Africa, and the cost of sheltering those displaced is passed on to surrounding developing countries, while international resource commitments for a political resolution and post-war reconstruction remain limited. The choice of returnees such as Mubarak is not passive flight, but an active engagement in rebuilding with their professional skills. They must face the reality that the war at home has not ended, and find their own way forward in the absence of systematic international support.

However, the test facing these returnees does not end simply because they have boarded a flight home. Al Jazeera's reporting did not disclose the funding sources, operators, or long-term sustainability of this voluntary repatriation program. With the war far from over, the dual risks to safety and livelihood will continue to follow every returnee.