My People are Stranded: Bearing Witness to the Struggle of Sudanese Refugees in Egypt
The war in Sudan has marked more than 500 days, a grim milestone for many Sudanese people. The conflict shows no signs of abating, and has resulted in the world’s largest displacement crisis forcing more than 10 million people to confront the harsh reality that their displacement may be more permanent than they once believed. As the war continues to rage on, I often find myself thinking back to my childhood and the streets of Khartoum, which I called home until the age of 12.
Khartoum, Sudan, was a beautiful city nestled along the banks of the River Nile, alive with the warmth of its people and the vibrant energy of a capital that united individuals from every corner of a vast and diverse nation. Every Friday morning, my family and I would savor tea and zalabieh (a Sudanese donut) from the street vendors on Al Balabil Street before heading to my grandparents’ home in the Arkaweet neighborhood. Now, I often find myself wondering if those street stalls and my grandparents’ house still stand.
Once home to approximately 6 million people, Khartoum has now been reduced to rubble due to a military conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The war, which began on April 15, 2023, has resulted in the displacement of around 10.7 million people within Sudan, with over 2.1 million fleeing to neighboring countries. As a result, many have no hope of returning to the only home they’ve ever known.
Over the past year, watching my family and friends flee Khartoum to less than welcoming host countries has been incredibly painful. Due to its geographical proximity and long-standing cultural ties, Egypt is a primary destination for Sudanese refugees escaping the conflict with the latest estimates ranging around 500,000 people. However, the journey to Egypt has been anything but smooth or easy for those seeking refuge. This summer, I spent time in Egypt interviewing Sudanese refugees and hearing firsthand the many challenges they face.
At the Border
In the early days of the conflict, the border was open to Sudanese women, children, and the elderly, allowing them to enter without visa requirements. However, as the months passed, visas became mandatory for everyone, and the associated costs and accessibility challenges grew increasingly complex.
Despite the Four Freedoms Agreement signed by Egypt and Sudan in 2004, which guarantees freedom of movement, residency, work, and property ownership for citizens across both countries, Sudanese refugees now face overwhelming challenges as the Egyptian government effectively disregards these commitments. While American citizens can obtain a visa to Egypt for just $25 at the airport, Sudanese refugees face costs between $1,500 and $2,500—an impossible amount for families who fled with nothing but the clothes on their backs. For context, the annual salary for Sudanese government employees in 2021, based on the minimum wage for civil servants, was only $80.64—making these visa fees unattainable for most.
Accessibility challenges are also significant. For those departing by land from northern Sudan, transportation to and from the border crossings at Wadi Halfa and Argeen en route to Cairo is both costly and perilous, with significant time required. The ongoing war has made traveling throughout Sudan dangerous due to random stops by militia members or thugs. Mandatory curfews across the country force people to find shelter wherever they are stopped, adding to the difficulty of reaching the border.
Renting a private vehicle from Dongola, the capital of Sudan’s Northern State, to Aswan in southern Egypt costs around $650. In comparison, bus and plane fares combined with various fees required to travel to Cairo total approximately $250 per person. These fees are collected by Sudanese and Egyptian officials at numerous checkpoints before exiting Sudan or entering Egypt. However, these estimates do not account for the significant costs and logistical challenges associated with reaching Northern Sudan from other regions. Frequent checkpoint stops by both Sudanese security officers and Egyptian border authorities can stretch the journey into Egypt to nearly a full day. The only alternative to land transport is an hour-long flight from Port Sudan to Cairo, which costs $500 one-way.
The situation at the Sudan-Egypt border is dire. Every day, hundreds of Sudanese gather, waiting for visas, only to be stranded for days amidst disorganization, erratic operating hours, and frequent closures. Even with valid paperwork, many are turned away and forced to sleep unsheltered in the desert.The combination of high costs, dangerous travel conditions, and chaotic border management has created an unbearable ordeal for those seeking safety.
Inside Egypt
For those able to enter Egypt, the situation is becoming increasingly unstable as Egyptian authorities roll out new laws that threaten the way of life for Sudanese refugees by targeting their residential status and sources of income and limiting their freedom of movement. One such law included a decree setting a deadline for June 30th, by which all refugees who entered Egypt “illegally” (including those who entered before visa requirements) and those with expired residency must pay a $1,000 fine, in addition to “other fees,” and find sponsorship from an Egyptian host.
While I was in Egypt interviewing Sudanese refugees I witnessed firsthand the pervasive fear within the community. Deportations are frequent, with abrupt changes to visa statuses leaving refugees vulnerable to being sent back to Sudan. Refugees now carry their visas and passports constantly to avoid random checks by Egyptian authorities. I was told that anyone caught without proper documentation—regardless of their immigration status—could be deported to Wadi Halfa, a grueling 25-hour journey covering over 1,200 miles, within the same day.
Exacerbating this situation is a secretive campaign aimed at detaining and deporting thousands of Sudanese refugees, largely to reduce migration to Europe and tighten control over refugee populations. The New Humanitarian and the Refugees Platform in Egypt uncovered evidence of this campaign through interviews with refugees, lawyers, and rights groups, as well as by obtaining internal documents, satellite images, and videos. They found that refugees are being detained in overcrowded, unsanitary military facilities where they face abuse and are often coerced into signing documents authorizing their own deportation. These deportations, often carried out suddenly in the dead of night, leave refugees no chance to contest their removal. Children, elderly people, and even those registered with the UN are not spared. The appalling conditions in these detention centers include rat infestations, overflowing sewage, and lack of shelter.
This crackdown has remained largely hidden from public view, bolstered by EU funding intended to curb migration, despite blatant violations of international humanitarian law. In Egypt, refugees now face mounting hostility from authorities, leaving them trapped in fear and uncertainty with no clear way forward.
Risk of Return
Sudanese refugees, with limited access to legal employment in Egypt, are often forced to rely on support from family members abroad. However, refugees I interviewed told me that the Egyptian government is cracking down on this by arresting anyone found with U.S. dollars or foreign currency not “lawfully obtained.” Since opening bank accounts is becoming increasingly difficult for Sudanese people, traditional methods of wire transfer and monetary transactions are limited, with cash exchanges being the only – now potentially dangerous – option.
Sudanese who sought refuge in Egypt after the war have lived at their own expense without receiving state aid. Meanwhile, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Egypt has been slowly processing the paperwork and interviews required to register Sudanese people as refugees, making deportation still a very real possibility for a large majority unable to travel to Cairo or still waiting for an interview.
Currently, returning Sudanese citizens to Sudan is tantamount to a death sentence. At least 20,000 people have been killed since the war began, and atrocities including widespread sexual violence continue to be committed. Two of the countries largest cities, Khartoum and Wad Madani have been destroyed by the conflict with houses, schools, and hospitals leveled. In Darfur whole villages are pillaged and mass killings are organized by the RSF. Many cities on Sudan’s periphery have become more expensive to live in than Egypt due to a shortage of residential properties, leading to high rent costs, and resource scarcity, which has caused food prices to triple. With the swell of diseases sweeping the country as the health system is near collapse, findings of famine in Darfur and warnings of its spread, the odds of survival for many of those who are returned are bleak.
Meanwhile in Egypt, Sudanese people are being scapegoated to distract from the country’s own crises: the ailing Egyptian economy has increased the cost of living for everyone, with most jobs remaining low-paying and new opportunities scarce. Additionally, rising rent prices are being blamed on the Sudanese community, leading to heightened tensions between the country’s citizens and their fellow residents.
Communal Solidarity
Regardless, I have seen the Sudanese community in Egypt find solace in each other. Many of them live close together in the Giza governorate, with a large population residing in the Faisal neighborhood, where a sizable Sudanese minority had lived for years before the war. With Sudanese businesses lining the streets and men crowded in the outdoor coffee shops chatting and watching football, it paints a picture reminiscent of the countless nights I spent walking the streets of Khartoum.
The Sudanese community has also held on to their communal nature while displaced in Egypt, with Sudanese-led charitable organizations like Sudan Cairo Aid providing services such as accommodation support, mental health recommendations, food and basic supplies, hygiene products, and medical supplies to anyone who reaches out to them for help. The people of Sudan are an incredibly resilient community. While they always search for ways to lift each other, they need the international community’s attention and assistance.
The Sudanese population in Egypt is currently living at the mercy of a hostile government that does not care for them and is unlawfully arresting and deporting them. This situation is unjust and unfathomably dangerous for people who have already suffered so much.
The war has been deemed as an inevitability due to Sudan’s turbulent political state post-revolution, and the country’s plight has primarily gone ignored as such. Suffering on such a large scale should never be seen as inevitable, and expedient support is vital to ensure that Sudanese people can retain their right to refuge in countries like Egypt without fear of deportation and arbitrary arrest.
Since the revolution in 2018, the Sudanese people have endured a pandemic, a failed democratic transition, a military coup, and now a devastating war—all within just five years. Many Sudanese youths have not attended school consistently during this period, leaving their education in limbo. Friends I once went to school with are now uncertain if they will ever complete their studies or afford to restart their education abroad.
The futures of Sudanese people have been stolen by a war and conflict they did not choose, and now, as they strive to regain a semblance of normalcy, they are being targeted. While my family and the Sudanese refugees I spoke with in Egypt may never return to the pre-war Sudan I remember, they at least deserve the opportunity to safely rebuild their lives and community in a place of refuge.
Wedad Osman is a summer 2024 intern at Refugees International and a student at Georgetown University. She is originally from Sudan.