Since the army recaptured the city last year, an estimated 2.7 million have returned—only to find chronic shortages of power, water, jobs and medicine. Many now regret coming back. Businessman Emad Khaled calls bringing his family home "a mistake" and is sending them back to Egypt; multiple government officials ordered to Khartoum are also keeping their families abroad. Fighting continues elsewhere in Sudan, including Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile. Although the army rebuilt the airport and patched up infrastructure to encourage returns, electricity and water still failed for days. Markets have reopened, but unemployment is widespread. By June, the UN had declared only one percent of Khartoum safe, with children killed by unexploded ordnance. Nearly half a million have returned from Egypt, where Sudanese refugees faced soaring costs and persecution. Working-class neighbourhoods see the most returnees, while upscale districts like Khartoum 2 sit abandoned, glass crackling underfoot among blown-out villas. Healthcare remains dire. Charities rebuilt hospitals, but physician Haifa Omar admits "some things just aren't available," forcing patients to buy medicines themselves. Professor Imam Babiker visits ten pharmacies for his father's blood-pressure medication at ever-changing prices, and his refrigerator can't preserve his mother's insulin through 12-hour daily outages. Khartoum, once home to over eight million, is a shell of itself. A UN official says the destruction dwarfs even Ukraine. Students were ordered back after remote learning ended in July, sparking resignations and protests. One student calls it political: "they want people back to show that things are fine, when things really aren't fine." (Bssnews)