Displaced Sudanese stream home from Egypt after army retakes Khartoum
They are among thousands of displaced Sudanese streaming back home from Egypt into territory retaken by the Sudanese armed forces from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary in Khartoum and its environs since the start of this year.
"I miss every corner of Sudan, really. I'm very happy that I'm going back," one of the returnees, Malaz Atef, told Reuters.
The families were waiting to board a free train to the southern Egyptian city of Aswan, from where they would take buses to the Sudanese capital Khartoum. A couple of young girls wore hats reading, "Thank you, Egypt" in Arabic.
Over 4 million Sudanese fled to neighbouring countries -- including more than 1.5 million to Egypt -- after war broke out between the army and the RSF in April 2023, according to figures from the International Organisation for Migration, or IOM.
Since the start of this year, over 190,000 people have crossed the border from Egypt into Sudan, more than five times the number who returned in all of 2024, an IOM report said earlier this month.
Sudan's ambassador to Egypt, Emad el-Din Adawy, who visited the station on Monday, said the returns marked "an important stage for reconstruction and bringing back stability."
Despite the relative calm in the capital, fighting between the RSF and the army is still raging in the central Kordofan region and al-Fashir in Darfur in the west.
The war, triggered by a dispute over a transition to civilian rule between the army and the RSF, has displaced over 12 million people and pushed half the population into acute hunger, according to the United Nations.
Some Sudanese in Egypt have complained of difficulty finding jobs and discrimination, and Egypt has deported thousands of refugees it says entered illegally. Thousands of others have fled onwards to Libya.
The weekly trains from Cairo to help Sudanese to return home voluntarily have been financed by Sudanese businessmen, according to Adawy.
The Sudanese who have gone back so far have mostly headed to Khartoum, as well as to Sennar and El Gezira states to the capital's south, according to the IOM.
(Reporting by Sayed Sheasha; Writing by Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Ros Russell)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
3 hours ago
- The Sun
Colombia ex-president Uribe gets 12-year house arrest, plans appeal
BOGOTA: Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe was sentenced to 12 years of house arrest on Friday for abuse of process and bribing a public official. The ruling stems from a long-running case involving alleged ties to right-wing paramilitary groups. Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia delivered the verdict, which also includes a $578,000 fine and an eight-year ban from public office. Uribe, who denies the charges, will appeal the decision. His legal team confirmed he must report to authorities in Rionegro, Antioquia, before serving his sentence at home. The conviction marks a historic moment as Uribe becomes Colombia's first ex-president found guilty at trial. The ruling comes less than a year before the 2026 presidential election, where several of his allies are contenders. U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, criticized the verdict, calling it a 'weaponization of Colombia's judicial branch.' Analysts warn the case could strain U.S.-Colombia relations, possibly affecting aid. Uribe, 73, maintains the trial is politically motivated. 'In my condition as a convict, I respectfully request an appeal,' he said during the virtual hearing. His defense argues the case aims to silence democratic opposition. The charges relate to claims Uribe bribed witnesses to discredit allegations of paramilitary links. Leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda gathered testimonies from ex-paramilitaries accusing Uribe of supporting their groups. The Supreme Court later ruled Uribe's team pressured witnesses, not Cepeda. Two jailed paramilitaries testified that Uribe's former lawyer, Diego Cadena, offered bribes for favorable testimony. Cadena denies the accusations. Uribe, president from 2002 to 2010, previously faced house arrest in 2020. His Democratic Center party remains influential. Despite his conviction, he highlights his record of extraditing paramilitary leaders to the U.S. Colombia's truth commission links paramilitary groups to over 205,000 deaths during the civil conflict. Uribe joins other Latin American leaders convicted of crimes, including Peru's Alberto Fujimori and Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. - Reuters
The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
Trump fires US labor official over data
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK: President Donald Trump dismissed a senior Labor Department official on Friday, accusing her of manipulating jobs data without evidence. The move intensified worries about the reliability of federal economic reports. In a separate development, Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler unexpectedly announced her resignation, offering Trump an earlier-than-expected opportunity to reshape the central bank's leadership. The twin announcements rattled markets, with the S&P 500 dropping 1.6%, its steepest fall in over two months. Trump targeted Erika McEntarfer, a Biden appointee, claiming she falsified employment figures. No proof supports his allegations against the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which produces key economic indicators like jobs and inflation data. A BLS representative declined to comment. The July jobs report showed only 73,000 new positions, with downward revisions erasing 258,000 previously reported jobs for May and June. 'We need accurate Jobs Numbers,' Trump posted on Truth Social, ordering McEntarfer's immediate replacement. A Trump administration official, speaking anonymously, cited dissatisfaction with recent data revisions and declining survey response rates. The BLS has scaled back data collection for inflation metrics due to resource constraints. Response rates for employment surveys fell from 80.3% in 2020 to 67.1% last month. A Reuters poll revealed 89 of 100 policy experts worry about U.S. data quality, with many criticizing the lack of urgency in addressing issues. Reduced BLS staffing has also narrowed the scope of Consumer Price Index reporting, a critical inflation measure. 'Politicizing economic statistics is a self-defeating act,' warned Michael Madowitz of the Roosevelt Institute. 'Credibility is far easier to lose than rebuild.' Meanwhile, Kugler's departure lets Trump appoint a Fed governor ahead of schedule. The president has repeatedly clashed with Chair Jerome Powell over interest rates. Potential successors include Trump adviser Kevin Hassett and former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh. 'I would not read any political motivation into [Kugler's] decision,' said analyst Derek Tang. 'But she's calling Trump's bluff by handing him a vacancy to fill.' - Reuters
The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
UK's online safety law is putting free speech at risk, X says
FILE PHOTO: A 3D-printed miniature model of Elon Musk and the X logo are seen in this illustration taken January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's online safety law risks suppressing free speech due to its heavy-handed enforcement, social media site X said on Friday, adding that significant changes were needed. The Online Safety Act, which is being rolled out this year, sets tough new requirements on platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and X, as well as sites hosting pornography, to protect children and remove illegal content. But it has attracted criticism from politicians, free-speech campaigners and content creators, who have complained that the rules had been implemented too broadly, resulting in the censorship of legal content. Users have complained about age checks that require personal data to be uploaded to access sites that show pornography, and more than 468,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the act to be repealed. The government said on Monday it had no plans to do so and it was working with regulator Ofcom to implement the act as quickly as possible. Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said on Tuesday that those who wanted to overturn it were "on the side of predators". Elon Musk's X, which has implemented age verification, said the law's laudable intentions were at risk of being overshadowed by the breadth of its regulatory reach. "When lawmakers approved these measures, they made a conscientious decision to increase censorship in the name of 'online safety'," it said in a statement. "It is fair to ask if UK citizens were equally aware of the trade-off being made." X said the timetable for meeting mandatory measures had been unnecessarily tight, and despite being in compliance, platforms still faced threats of enforcement and fines, encouraging over-censorship. It said a balanced approach was the only way to protect liberty, encourage innovation and safeguard children. "It's safe to say that significant changes must take place to achieve these objectives in the UK," it said. A UK government spokesperson said it is "demonstrably false" that the Online Safety Act compromises free speech. "As well as legal duties to keep children safe, the very same law places clear and unequivocal duties on platforms to protect freedom of expression," the spokesperson said. Ofcom said on Thursday it had launched investigations into the compliance of four companies, which collectively run 34 pornography sites. (Reporting by Paul SandleEditing by Mark Potter)
