Sudanese refugees in Egypt are caught between conflict and new legal hurdles.
Abdallah Bahr and his family fled Sudan’s war and now struggle to survive in Egypt, waiting hours in the sun for asylum cards.
Since the war in Sudan began in April last year, over 500,000 Sudanese have fled to Egypt.
Refugees like Bahr, without proper residency papers, face arrests, deportations, and rising xenophobia.
A new Egyptian law requires refugees to regularize their status by the end of September, with fees exceeding $1,000.
Many, like Bahr, cannot afford this, turning to the U.N. refugee agency, where delays for essential documentation have grown.
The government has intensified security checks on foreigners, while local hostility towards Sudanese refugees grows.
Some refugees report being refused school admission for their children and facing rising rent costs.
With strained resources and mounting social tension, refugees like Bahr’s wife, Afrah Idris, worry about their future in Egypt.
“We are not welcomed,” she said. Many refugees, struggling to find safety and stability, are left in legal limbo.
