An interest in the rich history and contemporary developments of the Sudanese Diaspora brought a group of scholars together during the International Sudanese Studies Conference in Bergen, Norway, in 2006. Their meeting brought up the possibility of establishing collaborative research initiatives focused on the Sudanese Diaspora and involving transnational Sudanese networks as well as the sending and the receiving ends of Sudanese migration routes. They hope that this broad approach will both help establish the magnitude of the diaspora and assess its policy relevance to the ongoing processes of peace-building in Sudan. It was decided that a network of individual researchers, through whom institutional linkages and projects could develop, would be the best approach to nurture research and collaboration.

The group met again at the University of East London in April 2008 and decided to initiate a process of formalising the network. They decided to launch a website and start to make concrete plans for the first international conference under the preliminary title, “Historical and Contemporary Dynamics of Migration within and Beyond Sudan”.