Egypt toughens visa procedures, leaving Sudanese fleeing war stuck at borders

Starting on Saturday, Egypt began to apply tighter restrictions to Sudanese nationals crossing into the country to flee the war that has raged since April in Sudan. 

Under the new rules, no Sudanese national will be allowed to cross the border without first securing a visa. 

Since the streets of Sudan have been turning into a battlefield between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces, over one million Sudanese nationals have been displaced, with hundreds of thousands coming into neighboring Egypt in search of safety. However, many thousands remain stranded at border cities between the two countries, as Egyptian authorities have introduced increasingly strict controls on who is eligible to cross its southern border.

Buses queuing up on the Egypt side of the border since April, often bearing those most in need of medical services sent by families remaining in Sudan to seek support no longer available in the war-torn country, were initially slowed by the limited administrative capacity to process, according to an Egyptian official who previously spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity.

A stream of people was able to enter Egypt however via the 2004 Four Freedoms agreement, later amended, which sought to establish freedom for nationals of Sudan and Egypt to move and work between the countries, and which exempted women, children under 16, and men over 50 years of age from obtaining visas.

By the end of May, Egyptian authorities began to raise barriers to passage. Sudanese men between 16 and 50 years old who had previously been welcomed in Egypt for their expertise in trades such as mining, agriculture and medicine, were required to obtain security clearance prior to entering Egypt, according to an internal communique circulated within EgyptAir and of which Mada Masr reviewed a copy.  Security agencies were concerned, the Egyptian official said, that members of the Rapid Support Forces could cross into Egypt.

Those granted refugee status in third-party host countries were also required to obtain security clearance, the memo said, although it exempted those with residency permits valid for at least an additional six months from GCC countries, the EU, the United States, Canada or the UK, provided they have return tickets and sufficient money in hard currency. Egypt’s laws do not recognize refugees. 

People with visas issued before the war by the Egyptian Consulate in Khartoum and those with expired passports were also informed they were no longer authorized to enter by notices on the wall at the Qastal and Argeen border crossings.

Egyptian authorities also ceased to accept emergency travel documents, previously allowed if the visa applicant lost their papers during the war. The cancellation caused a surge in the number of travelers waiting in Halfa and Port Sudan, where the Egyptian consulates are located.

Last week, in a new step to narrow the space for those seeking to leave Sudan, authorities on the Egypt side of the Qastal-Ashkit crossing informed authorities on the Sudanese side that from June 10 all Sudanese nationals — regardless of age and sex — will be allowed to enter Egypt only if they acquire pre-approved visas, according to a new decree which Mada Masr obtained a copy of. 

Egypt is the main destination accessible by land for around the over 1 million people whom the UNHCR estimates to have been displaced from their homes by the war. 

It is not clear how many people have crossed over into Egypt from Sudan but President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stated on Saturday that 200,000 foreign nationals have entered Egypt since the outbreak of the war, while UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said that Egypt is currently home to half of all those displaced because of the war in Sudan.