A long line of 50-person buses lined up at Argeen, one of the two main crossings along the Egypt-Sudan border, carrying thousands of people. everyone escaped the war in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to neighboring countries.
Piles of luggage piled up next to hungry and exhausted crowds, including children, the chronically ill and the elderly. They waited in the scorching April heat without food, water, hygienic toilets or access to basic health care before crossing the border into Egypt.
Many of those waiting were injured by heavy artillery and air raids on their homes or nearby attacks. the battle broke out between the Sudanese army and the powerful Paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF) on April 15.
According to estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO), fighting has left at least 460 people dead, more than 4,000 injured and forced 60% of hospitals in the capital to close.
Those who can’t afford the journey to neighboring countries’ borders or don’t want to face the uncertainty it brings are still stuck in Khartoum and other cities, where food is scarce. products, water and fuel.
Those leaving have told Al Jazeera that instead of finding respite at the border, they encountered lengthy delays in visa processing and a lack of international aid.
Yousra Abdelmoneim, a 27-year-old Sudanese-Egyptian accountant who crossed the border into Egypt after a three-day journey from Khartoum, said: “The situation is simply shocking and my main concern. is that it is getting worse day by day.
“There is no basic service or health care, no international aid organization and no access to free food or water,” she said.
No humanitarian aid
Abdelmoneim said she crossed into Egypt with family members after waiting 24 hours at the border and paying hundreds of dollars to get to Wadi Karkar, a bus stop near Aswan in southern Egypt.
Like many people who spoke to Al Jazeera, she said she did not see an international aid organization on the side of the border with Sudan and only a mobile medical clinic of the Egyptian Red Crescent. over there.
“There is nothing on the Sudanese side. Just a small straw house and a place to sell bread. There is no service, not even distribution of water,” said Abdelmoneim.
On the Egyptian side, the situation is not much better.
“Just a small coffee shop that sells tea and water, but only if you have Egyptian money,” said Abdelmoniem, recounting that “there were no other international NGOs, no trucks or their staff. United Nations, no humanitarian organization distributes food or provides emergency medical care.”
Abdolmoniem’s concerns were shared by a Sudanese man fleeing the conflict. The international aid worker, who did not want to be named for security reasons, said he was also “shocked not to see any UN agency at the border”, adding that people even had to pay £2,000. Sudan [about $4] for a straw bed while waiting to cross the border.
No one is providing medical care to many people who are exhausted, exhausted, and dehydrated while others are in need of life-saving medication or urgent medical care for choroidal diseases.
“When the Ukraine war broke out, when the Tigray crisis happened, everyone was on the ground, but this time, no one,” aid worker turned refugee told Al Jazeera from Aswan, where he arrived on Wednesday after paying $200 for a bus ticket and waiting along with about 30,000 others for nearly four days for customs clearance. “Where are the international aid organizations?”
long delay
After long and difficult journeys, those who reached the Egyptian border said they were divided into groups of Egyptians and foreigners and asked to queue at two windows served by each staff member. After submitting their passports and forms, they waited a little longer for their paperwork to be processed.
“It’s a very random process, there’s no logical order, there’s no distinction between whether you’re Egyptian or foreign,” said Abdelmoneim. “Many people around us waited two days without being called.”
Unlike the rest of their group, her two male cousins did not have valid Egyptian passports or visas and were denied entry to Argeen. They were told to go to Wadi Halfa to do the paperwork, but five days later, they were still stuck there, she said.
For Abdelmoneim, the nightmare continued step by step. After being allowed entry into Egypt, the group was told that like many other buses, their vehicle was undocumented. Abdelmoneim said they were forced to get off the train and wait another five hours until they found another vehicle to help them cross Egypt because they were not allowed to walk like that.
“We paid $200 each to get to the border and another $150 just to get to Aswan,” the accountant said. “Getting to safety is a privilege that only a few can afford.”
Safa Kazzam, a 38-year-old Swedish mother of Sudanese descent who crossed the border on Saturday said many of her family members had been stuck in Argeen for three days with no idea when they would be able to cross. border.
“Meeting this after such a long and difficult journey is crazy,” said Kazzam.
‘Lack of UN presence’
Olga Sarrado, a spokeswoman for the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that it expected 270,000 Sudanese refugees to arrive in Chad and South Sudan, including those South Sudan returns home, but there is no forecast for Egypt.
Egyptian media reported that more than 10,000 people passed through the land crossings of Qastal and Argeen between April 21 and Tuesday. According to eyewitnesses, the number of people arriving at the Egyptian border was much higher.
Unconfirmed reports spread on Thursday that Egyptian authorities had granted permission for organizations, including United Nations agencies, to visit the border with Sudan.
While human rights groups and activists are sounding the alarm about what they describe as a slow and ineffective humanitarian response on the Sudanese border, it remains unclear why international aid groups have responded. economy is not there. Al Jazeera had received no response from UNHCR at the time of publication.
Abdullahi Hassan, Sudan and Somalia researcher at Amnesty International, said: “We were told that the UN was not providing assistance at the border, which further complicated the issue for those people fleeing Sudan.
Sherine Tadros, Amnesty UN deputy director of advocacy and representative, pointed to the lack of clear provisions at border crossings, explaining that there was still no food, water or other means of transport. basic services such as seating, sleeping, showering or toilet use.
“These are the people who have left everything, their houses, their belongings, their whole lives, to do this 1,000km [620-mile] journey from Khartoum to the border,” said Tadros. “At least they deserve to be treated with compassion and dignity while waiting to enter Egypt, and they should be able to travel safely.”
