Sudanese fleeing fighting in their homeland face uncertain future, unsure of return

THE café outside Aswan station was full of Sudanese families, surrounded by luggage and waiting for the train to Cairo, the next leg in their arduous journey escaping violence that has torn apart their country and overturned their lives.

Aswan, the Egyptian city closest to the border with Sudan, has become a way station for tens of thousands of Sudanese fleeing fighting between Sudan’s military and rival paramilitary force. The displaced arrive exhausted after days on the chaotic roads. Now, they must figure out how to navigate a future that is suddenly uncertain, with no idea when they will be able to return home.

At Aswan’s Nasser café, a Sudanese university professor Naglaa al-Khair Ahmed was still stunned by the sudden explosion of violence on April 15, after escalating tensions between Sudan’s two top generals.

“We never imagined that verbal skirmishes would end up with war,” she said. “We didn’t