Roundup: On World Refugee Day, Sudanese still taking perilous routes in search of safety

The Star

20-06-2025

KHARTOUM, June 20 (Xinhua) -- As the world observes World Refugee Day on Friday, thousands of Sudanese continue to embark on dangerous and uncertain journeys to escape a war that has shattered their country and made safety an increasingly distant prospect.
For Ekhlas Abdul-Rahim, a 41-year-old widow and mother of four, the flight from Sudan's conflict has become an exhausting odyssey across borders and continents.
After months of hardship, she and her children reached Egypt. "The plan was to stay in Egypt and find work to support my children, but I encountered major difficulties," Abdul-Rahim told Xinhua. Without legal residency or stable employment, they spent days sleeping on the streets before finding shelter with acquaintances.
Unable to secure a future in Egypt, Abdul-Rahim decided to press on, setting her sights on Libya. But the journey grew even more perilous. After four months in Libya, she secured passage on an overcrowded rubber boat headed for a Greek island.
"That was the biggest risk, the most dangerous part of our escape from Sudan," she said. "I feared for my children in the rough seas."
Now living in a refugee camp outside Athens, Abdul-Rahim remains uncertain about what lies ahead. "We don't ask for much - only to live in peace, safety, and dignity, and for my children to grow up in a nurturing environment," she said.
Others fleeing Sudan have taken different routes. Abdel-Aal Siddiq traveled east to Ethiopia's Metema region, where he spent more than 18 months in a refugee camp.
"It was a painful experience, relying on meager aid. I'll never forget it," Siddiq said. Eventually, as security in Khartoum improved slightly, he returned home, but concerns remain. "Clean drinking water is scarce, electricity is mostly out, and diseases like malaria, fevers, and cholera are widespread. It's still tough, but we persevere," he said.
Yahya Abdalla, a Sudanese journalist living in exile in Kampala, Uganda, for nearly two years, described being a refugee as "a fate imposed by war."
"Being a refugee is not a choice; it is a destiny forced upon us by conflict and the collapse of livelihoods," Abdalla said. He warned that the world is losing sight of Sudan's crisis. "Sudan's crisis has become a forgotten one," he said, adding that even basic refugee registration often meets obstacles and assistance is minimal.
Abdalla has no plans to return. "There is nothing left for us to return to," he said. "Everything was looted -- our homes, our offices. We lost everything."
Despite limited improvements in security in parts of Sudan, migration and asylum expert Ahmed Abdel-Halim expects the exodus to continue. "Even before the war, Sudan struggled with poor services and limited livelihoods. Since the war, the suffering has only deepened," he said. "Anyone who finds a chance to migrate won't hesitate. All the conditions for migration are still there."
According to the United Nations, one in three Sudanese have been displaced. Of those, 3.8 million have crossed into neighboring countries, primarily Egypt, Chad, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and South Sudan.
Sudan has been locked in a brutal war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April 2023. The conflict has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee their homes.