Photo credit: UN News
Despite the civil war in Sudan, the number of Sudanese refugees heading home from Egypt has been rising since July.
The National reports that an estimated 1.2 million Sudanese have fled to Egypt since fighting broke out in April last year between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The war has displaced an estimated total of 11 million people. It has also claimed tens of thousands of lives, severely affected health services and created widespread hunger.
The RSF captured Sudan just after the war began and the army was forced to relocate its headquarters to Port Sudan. However, recent reports of the army retaking parts of the Sudanese capital have prompted many former residents to consider going home.
For Sudanese refugees, life in Cairo became more stressful after the Egyptian government decreed any unregistered foreign residents would be required to pay $1,000 to legalize their status in August 2023. The Egyptian government gave the foreigners a deadline of June 30. But the fee was unaffordable for most Sudanese and many have not paid.
Sudan News Agency reported earlier that an official at th Qustul-Ashkeet crossing on the Sudan-Egypt border as saying 7,890 people crossed into Sudan in August. The figure rose to 12,239 in September. Most of those returning were families, and the trend is expected to continue in the coming weeks, according to the official.
Meanwhile, the inflow of refugees into Egypt is waning. The UNHCR registered 31,265 newly arrived Sudanese in September.
