“Sudanhorizon” Examines Why Sudanese Are Now returning Home from Egypt

Cairo – Sudanhorizon

By: Nazik Shamam & Sabah Musa

Dreams of returning home haunt the imagination of millions of Sudanese civilians displaced by the war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Militia for now about seventeen months. Those hailing from Khartoum, Al-Jazeera, and Darfur states, now divided between living as internally displaced Persons (IDP) and refugees in foreign countries, wander around in search for lost security and lack of desired services. However following the victories scored by the Sudanese army and its progress in all fronts during the past few days in a number of axes of the Sudanese capital Khartoum and outside it, families who fled to Egypt have decided to return to their country, spurred by different reasons. These were factors related to education, rents, and regulation preconditions or high living costs that ordinary people could not afford.

Increase in numbers of Returnees

On Sunday, a high level Sudanese source at the Ashkeit border crossing in Wadi Halfa, Northern State, revealed that the crossing received a huge number of Sudanese civilians who sought refuge in Egypt due to the war. The source pointed out in widely circulated press statements that this came within the framework of voluntary return following good news of victories scored by the army in various regions of the country. But the source pointed out that some returnees were violators of entry regulations and that they have been deported. The source indicated that some 7,890 of the returnees entered the country via Ashkeit crossing in August, while those who came home via the same point in September numbered 12,539. Most of the returnees came in family groups.

Return Home

It is noted that the return home trip for Sudanese nationals from Egypt had started about four months ago, increasing in August and September. This has been attributed to a number of challenges that faced Sudanese families who fled the war, in search of security, to only find themselves facing new forms of instability.

Sudanhorizon news website had reported in a previous investigative report the suffering from the perilous journey of Sudanese coming to Egypt through smuggling, and the harsh suffering they faced on their rough rides through earth and unpaved deserts roads to Egypt.
In this report Sudanhorizon examines the most important reasons that made those people decided to return to their homeland.
Abu Sumbul Battalion

A Sudanese human rights activist told Sudanhorizon that the home return trip by Sudanese began noticeably after Eid al-Adha (The Sacrifice Eid). He gave the example of one large extended Sudanese family of more than 50 people who came to Egypt through smuggling and settled in Aswan. He explained that this family wanted to return to Sudan again, but they were initially subjected to extortion by brokers who demanded 13,000 Egyptian pounds per person to transport them from Aswan in Egypt back Halfa, which they found prohibitively expensive. He added that this family had no choice but to approach the Egyptian Border Guards Battalion in Abu Sumbul, and they sought the service of a lawyer who wrote them a return request . Although this lawyer was questioned by the authorities, still in the end the request was dealt with flexibly, and the family was allowed to return, and 28 members of the family had actually succeeded in returning home. He stated that the battalion provided transportation for the said family , and prepared a good stay point for them while waiting , providing food, medical treatment, and other amenities.

He said that the battalion provided return buses for free. However with the increasing number of those wishing to go home, a nominal tariff was applied, 200 Egyptian pounds per person from Abu Sumbul to Halfa, with the buses being escorted until they were handed over to the Sudanese authorities at the crossing. The human rights activist noted that people found this return through the battalion to be the safest way.

Safe Passage

The Sudanese activist, who asked not to be identified, said that after that, return trips followed from Cairo to Aswan, passing through the battalion in Abu Sumbul where they would wait for one day at most, and then proceed to the Sudan. The source said they have noted that most of the families wishing to return have hidden their UNHCR cards, and that they sometimes registered with false names. He said that the reason for this is that return in this way to a place of war is contravening to international laws. He added, “But I see that Sudan has many safe states that can be returned to, as long as people were unable to legalize their stay in Egypt.” He stressed that this method of return has proven to be safe, and that it has put an end to smuggling market through mountain passages. He said that they return from the military crossing and are handed over to Sudanese security authorities on the other side, at the crossing points.

Different Categories

The Sudanese human rights activist explained that no less than 5 buses were monitored daily in the crossing points, and that each bus transports an average of 70 people, or about 350 people daily, adding that returnees hailed from different classes, some wanted to return permanently because of the difficult living conditions, rent problems, legalization of status and education, and other want to continue living in Egypt, so they go to Sudan for a visit and return again through smuggling, adding that no organization is involved in these trips, nor the Sudanese embassy in Cairo or the consulate in Aswan, since international laws do not approve of a returning to active war zones.
Sudanhorizon website reporters also contacted those who arrived in Sudan safely through using these means of transportation, and spoke with them about their trips, the reasons for returning to their homeland , reversing their decision to flee it, and about the safety of the areas to which they relocated. The following are excerpts from statements of a number of returnees.

Children Education Challenges

Enas Salah El-Din Mukhtar, a Sudanese mother of four children, was displaced after war reached her home area in Khartoum North, after the Rapid Support Militia began raiding neighborhoods in the Northern State, her hometown. She stayed there for about a year, but decided to come to Egypt to secure the education of her children. However, after only five months, Enas decided to return to home once again.

Enas told Sudanhorizon that “I decided to return to my hometown again, because I could not settle nor could my children in Egypt as I had planned.” She explained that education challenges were the first reason for the decision to return. Following decision to close Sudanese schools in Egypt, settling there became meaningless – she maintained.

She indicated that there were other reasons that made her return to Sudan, including high rents, the high cost of living, and the lack of work opportunities.

Ease of the Trip Home

Regarding the return trip, Enas confirmed that the trip went smoothly, without any harassment from either the Egyptian or Sudanese side. She pointed out the good treatment by the Egyptians at the crossing and the facilitation of procedures, especially for women. She said that the most difficult thing about the trip was the camp environment, which may not be suitable for children and the elderly. However, she confirmed that the rest of the trip did not involve any difficulties or troubles. She revealed that eight buses move daily from Egypt on a return trip to Sudan, carrying at least 800 people.

Currency Difference

As for Muhammad Abdullah, from the Khatmiya area in Khartoum North, he said that his decision to return was prompted by the general situation, especially after the decline in the value of the Sudanese pound and its deterioration against the Egyptian pound. Abdullah confirmed in an interview with Sudanhorizon that the living conditions in both Sudan and Egypt have become the same, especially for those whose remittances reached them in Egypt in Sudanese pounds.

He said that in light of the high cost of living, settling in Egypt is not the wisest of options. Muhammad Abdullah, who settled in the city of Merowe in the Northern State after returning from Egypt, explained that he plans to return to his home in Bahri and thrilled to do so, especially after the remarkable advance made by the Sudanese army there. He underlined the ease of the return trip from Egypt to Sudan, noting the harshness of the procedures on the Sudanese side, and the lack of services in the Argain camp, which constituted a real challenge for senior citizens.

Barring of Sudanese Schools

On a trip that took two and a half days, Wathba Muhammad Al-Sayed arrived at her home in the Northern State , from Egypt. Wathba, who went to Egypt with the aim of securing education for her children after the suspension and disruption of the educational system in Sudan due to the war, chose Cairo to continue educating her children, but after the decision to close down Sudanese schools, she could not stay and returned again. Wathba told Sudanhorizon that “I stayed in Cairo for four months hoping to catch up with my children’s school year, but shortly after my arrival, the Sudanese schools were closed. I waited for a while to see how things would turn out, until I decided to return to Sudan again.”

Wathba agreed with those who came before her on the ease and smooth flow of the trip from Cairo to Aswan and from there to Ashkeit. She explained that the cost of this trip does not exceed 600 Egyptian pounds. She stressed the availability of services throughout the journey, with initiatives from the Sudanese to secure services in the camps on both the Egyptian and Sudanese sides, especially meals and medical services, while the Egyptian side provided security escort for the trips, i.e. the presence of officers on the buses moving from Aswan to Halfa.

Job loss

For various reasons, a number of Sudanese returning home wanted to keep their jobs in the civil service. This is what happened with Zainab Ibrahim, who was forced by war conditions to leave her home in El Obeid, North Kordufan State, and seek refuge in Egypt in search of safety and stability. However, after ten months of staying in Cairo, Zainab decided to return to her home region in El Obeid. She was served a note to report to work at the El Obeid refinery affiliated with the Ministry of Oil. Zainab confirmed that she returned because she feared losing her job, if she opted to stay in Egypt. In the interview with Sudanhorizon she said that she preferred to return and leave her children there so that she could secure living expenses in Cairo, noting that the return journey went normally and was free of any difficulties, noting a significant increase in the number of Sudanese returning. She confirmed that the situation in El Obeid is almost stable in terms of security.

Epidemics and Diseases

With the advance of the Sudanese army in the capital Khartoum, Abdel Razeq Ahmed, who had chosen Port Sudan as a provisional place of residence after the outbreak of the war, decided to return to the Al-Thawra area in Omdurman, especially after the news of the stability of the security situation.

Ahmed told Sudanhorizon that the high cost of living in Port Sudan made him return to his home in Omdurman, and he noted that the nature of the climate with the spread of epidemics and diseases, all of which are reasons that made him rush to return to his home in Omdurman, stressing that the security situation in the area is somewhat stable amidst the sound of explosive and shelling throughout the day, but he stressed that life is going on normally.

Official Statistics

While official Egyptian statistics confirm that more than one million and two hundred thousand people have entered the country from the Sudan, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Egypt says that it has registered 469,664 Sudanese as refugees up to August, but that the real number of those who entered the country should have been higher than that. The International Organization for Migration has pointed out in its weekly statistics review that the recorded number of people displaced because of the conflict inside Sudan, is 9.9 million internally displaced persons in all 18 states of Sudan and warned that the number will reach ten million in the coming days.