Thousands of Sudanese people heads to north over the border into Egypt fleeing violence, stories of days-long delays at the border are emerging, with travellers suffering in the heat without food, water, or shelter.
But, observers say, the mass exodus developing into a refugee crisis for Egypt seems unlikely, for now.
Amid the Sudan crisis, an information battle
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Sudan erupted into violence two weeks ago as the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), spearheaded by General Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, attacked each other with helpless civilians caught in the crossfire.
Fighter jets thundered overhead as foreign governments and international organisations evacuated their citizens and foreign staff and Sudanese people began moving to the borders to escape.
Late on Friday, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi tweeted that an estimated 50,000 people had fled Sudan to Egypt, Chad, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic – and the numbers were expected to grow.
Chaos or controlled access?
There are two border crossings into Egypt, Argeen and Qustul-Ashkit in Wadi Halfa, and they are on the west and east banks of Nubia Lake, respectively. All males between the ages of 17 and 49 have been told to go to Halfa to apply for an Egyptian visa at the consulate there.
Women and males younger than 17 and older than 49 can cross at Argeen without visas, meaning many families are separated and have to wait in Argeen for their male relatives to get through.
“We faced a lot of problems because my son was over the age and needed a visa, which took maybe a whole day,” Mostafa, who asked to be identified by only first name, said shortly after he arrived in the southern Egyptian city of Aswan with his wife and four children.
But once that hurdle was cleared, Mostafa and his family did not foresee any issues in Egypt as they could afford to move around there.
The processing on the Egyptian side is slow, with some people waiting for days to hear their names called so they can proceed into the country.
The government has announced the formation of a crisis task force to monitor the situation with members from the ministries of defence, interior and foreign affairs, as well as General Intelligence.
The Sudanese side of the border crossing has no facilities for the travellers and the Egyptian side has only the Egyptian Red Crescent helping people as the government has reportedly not authorised any other bodies to work at the border.
There has been no official confirmation, but observers say the UN has concluded consultations with the Egyptian government and is in Aswan to assess needs in the south.
Christine Bishay, UNHCR spokeswoman, said in an email the UN will be supporting “those in need with lifesaving relief items that will be delivered through the Egyptian Red Crescent teams at the borders”. Among the relief to be offered are “water and hygiene items, transportation and medical assistance”.
