Emigrants from South Sudan: Where Did They Move To? (2024) 🌍✈️

South Sudan is the world’s youngest country, born in 2011 with immense hope—and almost immediately burdened by instability. Civil conflict, economic fragility, climate shocks, and fragile institutions have turned mobility from a choice into a coping mechanism. For millions of South Sudanese, leaving was not about chasing opportunity abroad; it was about finding safety nearby.

This matters because the data below does not track annual migration flows. Instead, it captures emigrant stock—the total number of people born in South Sudan who are living abroad as of mid-year 2024. Think of it as a snapshot of where displacement has settled, not where it is merely passing through.

Now, let’s dig deeper- Emigrants from South Sudan

The Geography of Survival 🧭

The clearest pattern in the data is almost brutally logical: Emigrants from South Sudan overwhelmingly stay close to home.

1. Sudan hosts the single largest population, with over 1.5 million South Sudanese.

2. Uganda follows with 923,658, long known for its relatively open refugee policies.

3. Ethiopia accounts for 443,743, while Kenya hosts 114,885.

4. Even the Democratic Republic of Congo, itself unstable, shelters over 100,000.

   
   

Together, Sudan, Uganda, and Ethiopia alone host nearly 3 million South Sudanese—a stark reminder that displacement in Africa is largely absorbed by Africa. This is not migration driven by global labour markets or lifestyle arbitrage. It is regional humanitarian migration, shaped by borders that are reachable on foot and cultures that are at least partially familiar.

Europe: Distant, Selective, and Rare

Europe barely registers: Denmark (50), Norway (198), Finland (11), Latvia (effectively zero). Even taken together, Europe hosts only a few hundred South Sudanese. Why so few? Europe is expensive to reach, legally difficult to enter, and increasingly restrictive. Asylum systems are slow, border regimes are tight, and the journey itself often requires resources that displaced families simply do not have. Distance, policy, and cost act as filters—and most South Sudanese never make it through.

Australia: Small Numbers, Big Distance 🦘

Australia hosts 9,693 South Sudanese—small compared with regional neighbours, but notable given the sheer distance. This migration reflects earlier resettlement programmes, family reunification, and a legacy of humanitarian visas rather than recent large-scale movement. Australia is not absorbing today’s crisis; it is hosting the echoes of past ones.

The Middle East: Work, Not Refuge 

Countries like the UAE (14,900), Qatar (2,172), Kuwait (1,999), and Bahrain (1,500) show up modestly in the data. These numbers reflect labour migration more than asylum, shaped by temporary contracts and limited long-term security. This is migration with conditions—residency tied to employment, rights constrained, permanence uncertain.

What the Map Really Tells Us 📊

The story here is not about aspiration—it is about constraint. South Sudanese emigrants are not spreading evenly across the globe. They are clustering where borders are porous, travel is affordable, and survival is possible. Global migration debates often focus on Europe or America, but for South Sudan, displacement is overwhelmingly a regional responsibility.

The uncomfortable truth is this: If neighbouring countries were to close their borders tomorrow, there is no global backup plan waiting. And so the final question lingers—not on the map, but behind it:

How long can the region continue to absorb South Sudan’s instability, while the rest of the world counts the numbers from a distance?