15 Egyptian truck drivers dead on Sudan border, 4,000 others stuck as war freezes movement

An Egyptian national working as a truck driver died on Monday while stranded at the crossing between Egypt and war-torn Sudan, making the 15th casualty of the kind in just 15 days as a result of harsh conditions and long waiting times at the border. 

Two sources from the national syndicates for workers in land transport and in transport and communications told Mada Masr disruption to loading and unloading operations contributed to the man’s death, and that the same fate threatens 4,000 drivers who are still waiting for the government to respond to their call for support.

Since war erupted in Sudan on April 15, the humanitarian situation has deteriorated resulting in a scarcity of food and basic provisions. The increased demand has led to higher compensation for truck drivers and owners on the Egyptian side of the border.

Egyptian trucks have been lined up for two months, mainly waiting to deliver food and cement, on both sides of the Qastal and Arqin land crossings that link Egypt and Sudan, said a source in the transport and communications union.

Approximately 1,500 trucks are currently stalled on the Egyptian side of the 40-kilometer-long land port of Qastal, said the transport and communications union, while another 2,500 trucks are stuck at the Arqin border which has no parking, no services and no supply of water.

Eleven Egyptian drivers have died near the Sudanese border enduring overcrowding and temperatures as high as 40 degrees Celsius, while four have died in Egypt, unable to get medicines to treat chronic illnesses due to shortages of water and ice. The land transport union said that all but two bodies have been returned to Egypt in recent days.

"Heatstroke and inflammation of brain membranes" killed the drivers, according to burial permits reviewed by Mada Masr.

In normal conditions, Egyptian trucks usually unload their goods in storehouses near the border crossings, or the goods are picked up by Sudanese trucks to be distributed to different states, said a source from the Union for Land Transport Workers.

But the war has changed things. “Warehouses are filled and there is no place for new goods, and on the other hand, there are no trucks to pick things up from you or take things from warehouses — movement has stopped entirely,” the same source added.

While drivers are unable to cross, they are also unable to return home: "The majority of vehicles that pass must clear customs. If drivers don’t have proof of customs permission after delivering goods from the other side of the border, it is assumed that he has them unlawfully,” an exporter told Mada Masr, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Drivers are unable to get a customs permit if no one is there to receive the goods, the exporter continued. "True, some goods aren’t subject to customs, but we have to be responsible, there are contracts and agreements, and these people are working for their livelihoods."

Over the past month, many stranded drivers have recorded videos in which they call on government authorities and the president for help, and for stocks of water and ice to be sent to the crossings.

One of these calls was published by a 61-year-old driver who shared a video two weeks ago, expressing frustration about poor conditions at the Arqin crossing. The driver died on Friday.

The Union for Land Transport Workers source said transport trucks crossing the Sudanese border normally have enough food and drink to last from 10–15 days. With waiting periods stretching much longer, "people still want to go and get water from anywhere, but this means that they will lose their place in the queue and start over, so they don't go."

A source from the General Union of Transport Workers and Services told Mada Masr that he had called the Labor Ministry on Sunday last week to ask the drivers for help. The ministry did send drinking water and promised to send medical services, but various people at the border speaking to Mada Masr said that the supplies and services are yet to arrive.

The transport workers and services union source said that the union head has sent a complaint to the Cabinet complaints platform and that the platform says the complaint was submitted to the Foreign Ministry.

The land transport union source accused the Egyptian ports administration of negligence for failing to help or submit reports to relevant parties on the basis that they aren’t responsible for drivers outside the Aswan crossing points. "All the officials who we communicate with say there is no government in Sudan and that they can’t find anyone to communicate with. They blame us for disrupting the flow since our paperwork is incomplete."

“Who is responsible then for the people who die and the families who have lost members?"

With no course of action visible, the union source said drivers are in a state of despair. "Drivers bring in money for the country, and are helping another country in crisis but the state does not see us even though we have been dying for a month. There is not one news piece published about us, it’s as if we are chicken."