11.03.2008 - Source: US Department of State

526,998 Sudanese refugees reside in neighbouring countries (Chad, Uganda, Ethiopia, DRC, CAR, Egypt, Eritrea, Kenya); more than 56,000 refugees returned home in 2007 ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2007") [ID 23227]

"The UNHCR reported that 526,998 Sudanese refugees resided in neighboring countries, because of the conflicts in the south and Darfur.

Some 231,000 of these were in Chad, and another 162,000 were in Uganda; the remainder were in Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Egypt, Eritrea, and Kenya.

Improved security in the south increased the return of displaced populations into areas of origin that were severely affected by the war and lacked basic services.

More than 56,000 refugees and tens of thousands of internally displaced persons from the north/south conflict returned to their areas of origin, particularly to the Nuba Mountains region and Central Equatoria."

Document(s): Open document

06.2006 - Source: Aegis Trust

The application for travel documents in the UK alerts the Sudanese authorities to the fact that someone has arrived in the UK without a Sudanese passport, indicating that they probably sought asylum there ("Safe as Ghost Houses. Prospects for Darfur African Survivors Removed to Khartoum") [ID 23495]

"Almost without exception, people who leave Darfur and seek international protection in other countries do so without legitimate papers. [...]

Where any papers were held at all, these were in false names and were retained by the people-smuggling agent on or before arrival in the UK. [...]

Since 2003 it is even less likely that anyone from Darfur would apply for a national passport; they would be unlikely to be granted one and to do so would alert the authorities of their intended departure from Sudan.

In order to return to Sudan, therefore, people have to obtain travel documentation from the Sudanese Embassy in the UK.

The application for travel documents from the UK Immigration and Nationality Directorate itself alerts the Sudanese authorities to the fact that someone has arrived in the UK without a Sudanese passport - indicating that they probably sought asylum here.

It is not possible to obtain a new Sudanese passport in the UK from the Embassy of Sudan without evidence of a prior existing passport - either lost, stolen or expired. [...]

In addition to the above, people from Darfur are distinctive by their appearance, accent, characteristics and names. [...]

Arriving off a plane from the UK immediately alerts the immigration officials that someone unusual has (a) been to the UK and (b) has been sent back."

Document(s): Open document

06.2006 - Source: Aegis Trust

Persons returning to Sudan through Khartoum airport after an absence of any significant time will be suspected of having evaded their conscription into armed forces; it is likely they will be detained, interrogated and tortured ("Safe as Ghost Houses. Prospects for Darfur African Survivors Removed to Khartoum") [ID 23496]

"If a person returns to Sudan through Khartoum airport after an absence of any significant time, this will be quickly apparent to the officials at Khartoum airport, which would in turn make him immediately liable to suspicion as a draft-evader.

Sudan conscripts its young people into the armed forces (either the regular army or the PDF).

There are no exemptions and no facilities for conscientious objection.

If the returnee is found to have evaded his conscription, he will be liable - at best - to detention and interrogation and a sentence of imprisonment.

If he is found to have left Sudan in order to evade conscription, it is not unlikely that he will be detained, interrogated and tortured."

Document(s): Open document

06.2006 - Source: Aegis Trust

Decree authorises detention of all people who left Sudan after 1989 and have been away for over 12 months; it is highly likely that a person from Darfur who has been out of Sudan for many months and who has sought for asylum in the UK will be subjected to detention and torture ("Safe as Ghost Houses. Prospects for Darfur African Survivors Removed to Khartoum") [ID 23497]

"As stated in the UNHCR paper (February 2006), a decree passed in 1993 authorises the detention of all people who left Sudan after the coup of 1989 and have been away for over 12 months.

Detainees may be subjected to "investigations" and "necessary security measures".

UNHCR posits that young men of conscript age are particularly at risk of such detention, which is currently being applied selectively.

Given the hostility referred to herein towards the UK and the nature of the armed conflict in Darfur, it is [...] highly likely that a person from Darfur who has been out of Sudan for many months and has sought to stay out of Sudan in the UK would be subject to this detention and measures as described.

There is no monitoring or scrutiny by national or international organisations regarding the treatment of such detainees."

Document(s): Open document

06.2006 - Source: Aegis Trust

UK is on top of the Sudanese "hot list" of hostile states; returnees from UK risk detention at arrival in Khartoum, interrogation and torture ("Safe as Ghost Houses. Prospects for Darfur African Survivors Removed to Khartoum") [ID 23498]

"The GoS has previously regarded the UK as an ally of the US in Iraq, Afghanistan and 'against' Khartoum at the UN Security Council.

British calls for measures that even the US is reluctant to endorse, puts the UK at the top of the Sudanese 'hot list'.

Detention for questioning may take various forms. [...] the detention facilities include prisons, police stations and 'ghost houses' as well as military camps.

With no access to legal representation, a returnee may be taken to any one of these and detained for any length of time in conditions that breach international and regional human rights standards.

Detention can be expected to include not only questioning but also punishment [...].

The Aegis Trust is in contact with a person now resident outside Sudan and the UK who was returned to Sudan as a failed asylum seeker from Darfur.

This person reports that he was detained at Khartoum International Airport, questioned at length on his activities in the UK and his connections to the rebels in Darfur and beaten when he could not give 'satisfactory' information. [...]"

Document(s): Open document

06.2006 - Source: Aegis Trust

Khartoum is not a safe or satisfactory situation for returnees from Darfur: People who have raised human rights concerns have been found to have liaised with international organisations or the international community, or who have any suspected involvement with the rebel movement, are liable to arrest, detention, mistreatment or torture ("Safe as Ghost Houses. Prospects for Darfur African Survivors Removed to Khartoum") [ID 23499]

"The author of this report maintains that Khartoum is not a safe or satisfactory situation for people from Darfur for the following main reasons:

Firstly, the living conditions are such that people who have sought international protection would be forced to live in areas of fundamental insecurity, without access to employment or other financial support or humanitarian assistance. [...]

Secondly, for people from Darfur to be removed from the UK to Khartoum brings inherent danger, whether their application in the UK was found to be credible or not.

Time and again, people who have raised human rights concerns, have been found to have liaised with international organisations or the international community, or who have any suspected involvement with the rebel movement, are liable to arrest, detention, mistreatment or even torture.

There is no effective scrutiny of the national security forces.

The power of the NSIS is such that the presence of any returnee from the UK will be immediately detected on arrival and they will be vulnerable to detention and interrogation in circumstances that flagrantly breach all relevant human rights norms and standards.

Even if they are allowed to enter Khartoum, they risk being 'picked up' later and being subjected to the same treatment.

In either case, there is little de jure and no de facto mechanism for protection and none for redress."

Document(s): Open document

20.04.2006 - Source: Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation

Situation of failed asylum seekers upon return to Sudan ("10th European Country of Origin Infomation Seminar Budapest, 1 - 2 December 2005: Final Report on Sudan") [#49770],  [ID 19057]

"Failed asylum seekers won’t face severe problems upon return, as long as they are not recognized as a threat to the state. However, if they are seen as a threat – there is no guarantee. In the beginning of the 90ies there were cases of people who just disappeared. A lot of persons who left the country after the coup returned from exile. Of course they feared that they would be arrested at the airport, but nothing happened. However, this does not mean that the situation will continue like this.

HS: In the past persons who left the country after the coup and stayed away for more than one year, would be questioned upon return automatically. This is no routine policy anymore; also the practice of arrests straight at the airport is not common anymore at the moment. Returnees might get visits from security officers later and be questioned or warned not to start any “funky business” in Sudan. I have no information that these people are particularly being targeted. Instead, some people who have been abroad for many years, maybe for political reasons, have come back to Khartoum. They are subject to close surveillance and they know that they cannot engage in political activities. They also know that they can be arrested, questioned, and detained at any time. They feel a little bit more secure if they obtained a foreign passport before their return. But if they are still Sudanese citizens, they have no protection at all.
There have been some positive developments, but the security is monitoring the situation very closely and it is quite unpredictable."

Document(s): Open document