Refugees find little welcome at Egyptian border

People fleeing fighting face hunger and hostility at sparsely staffed crossing

- Ruth Michaelson

Thousands of people have fled fierce street battles in central Khartoum for Sudan's borders, waiting for days to enter Egypt or walking hundreds of kilometres to cross into South Sudan.

Rana Ameen, a 23-year-old engineering student, said she and five family members had paid the equivalent of $600 each to travel to the border crossing with Egypt, almost 1,000km away.

To reach the bus station on the outskirts of Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city on the other bank of the Nile, the family were forced to make their way through the centre of the capital, where bitter fighting between two armed generals has caused thousands of people to flee the airstrikes and artillery fire. Once they reached the border, the situation worsened, as they waited to cross for three days in the desert.

"It was a deadly trip," she said. "At the border crossing, there was barely food, water and no bathrooms. Babies were crying as they lay on the ground."

Others reported that Egyptian security officials held up young men, separating them from loved ones, citing a need for extra security checks.

From time to time, a truck would bring water to the people at the border crossing, but before it could even reach a small supermarket nearby, the water would run out. Food prices at the border were three times their usual prices.