Sudan’s refugees seek shelter in Egypt
Since April, over 300,000 Sudanese refugees have arrived in Egypt, fleeing the violence in Khartoum and other regions of Sudan after war broke out between rival military factions. Our partner Refuge Egypt has shared with us what they have been doing to help the new arrivals.
Refuge Egypt staff distributing food supplies.
(Please note: this blog contains references to physical and sexual violence, which some may find distressing)
The number of Sudanese refugees who are seeking help at Refuge Egypt has increased dramatically. At the moment, we are supporting 10 to 20 times more refugees per day than before the Sudan crisis.
Often the refugees left their home without having anything with them besides the clothes they were wearing when the attacks started – people on their way to work for example or women who fled after their husbands were killed in front of them. All are in need of food, hygiene products, clothes, a shower and a place to stay. Of the newcomer refugees who register for humanitarian assistance with us, 90% report having eaten only one or no meal the previous day.
To help deal with the large increase in clients, we’ve recruited fifteen new volunteers from the refugee community as well as native Egyptians and from the church. The English-speaking congregation at All Saints Cairo have organized clothing drives for us and were able to collect large amounts of clothes for distribution.
Each morning, newcomer refugees begin queuing at our doors as early as 5am. We welcome them with breakfast, including sandwiches, biscuits, tea and milk. We have organized a welcoming area in the shade, offering places to sit and cold water for the huge number of refugees waiting.
Our staff and volunteers then interview and register each person to understand the individual’s circumstances and needs. Sadly, because of the large numbers, we can’t support everyone who comes to our doors – only the most vulnerable. Sometimes people get angry when they are refused because of not fulfilling our criteria for support.
Those we can help are given clothes and food for the next days, in addition to hygiene kits to get cleaned.
Clothes supplies for newly arrived refugees at Refuge Egypt.
Refuge Egypt also supports them in their search for housing. For newcomers who are not staying with relatives or friends, many cannot afford to rent a place to stay in. The rents in refugee communities are increasing because landlords are taking advantage of the influx of newcomers and newcomer refugees are being charged exorbitant prices.
Besides material assistance, refugees are also in need of medical, emotional and psychological support. Many, including children, are traumatized by the experience of seeing relatives killed, being raped, living with dead bodies in their home because of the lack of possibility to bury them, and being forced to leave their home and country. Others fled with injuries or illness, or were injured during their journey. Our staff work hard to give them the emotional support they need and organise and accompany them to medical or psychological appointments.
One particularly busy day, a family of five arrived in our crowded office, shouting that they needed help. We helped them immediately, providing cold water and sandwiches. We then listened to them and comforted them in their crying, as they told us of their story:
In Sudan, they had been well-to-do. They had good jobs, a four-storey house, a car each for the husband and wife, and their three sons attended a private school. But one morning, they woke up to the sound of military aeroplanes, bombs and gunfire and soon the militia were blocking the gates of their house. They witnessed girls being rounded up and raped and militia snipers on the roofs of houses. The father told us that the militia would joke together about who had a good shot and compete for which one of them could shoot the most people.
Eventually they escaped from their house in the middle of the night. It took them 12 hours to reach a distance that would take ten minutes by car because they had to creep by, hiding as they went so they wouldn’t be seen by the militia. They showed us pictures of the destruction and bodies they had seen in the streets as they were fleeing. After sheltering at the home of a relative, they realised that was not safe either, so decided to try to get to Egypt. Each place they travelled to militia were looting houses and civilian bodies were lying in the street.
The family managed to get on a bus with 30 other civilians, but at every militia check point the bus was stopped and the passengers subjected to brutal and humiliating abuse. It was a terrifying and dangerous journey but eventually they reached Port Sudan and travelled onto Egypt. By the time they arrived in Egypt, they had spent all their money. The only place they could find to live was a storage room on the roof of an apartment building, without water, gas or electricity, living among rats and trash.
The family eventually managed to travel to Cairo by bus.
We served them food and hot drinks, gave each of them clothes and then managed to find them accommodation in an apartment – basic, but clean and safe – with the first month’s rent paid and a gas stove to cook on.
We tried to encourage the children to receive psychosocial support, but they became very upset. The parents were afraid the children might run away or take their own lives if they were forced to see the psychologist, so we didn’t insist. However, we will continue to work cautiously with the family raising their awareness about the importance of having psychological support sessions after all they have been through.
Our main goal for this family, and for all refugees who arrive Cairo, is not just to provide immediate aid but help them to acclimatise, recover from their ordeal and then go on to rebuild their lives and become independent and self-sufficient once again.