In Sudan, the evacuation of 26 Congolese stranded since the start of the war in the country continues. They had been trapped in fighting and shelling since the outbreak of the conflict on April 15th. Finally, they were able to board a bus chartered by the Congolese government on June 21st and flee Khartoum. The group is now out of danger but stuck at the border with Egypt. They’ve been stuck for a week.
Even if the worst is over, the group is not entirely out of the Sudanese nightmare. The 26 receive help from the Congolese ambassador to Egypt, but cannot cross due to lack of visas. “Babies must have visas, we also have some Congolese who had lost their papers, explains Shoukou Kazadi. This means that we cannot cross directly like that. Because of that, we wait. The ambassador told us that they were putting pressure there. Like everyone here, we just need to go home and see our families”.
“All the banks were looted, closed. There were no transfers, nothing coming in. When we got here, we had nothing in our pockets. We slept in travel agencies, and we were welcomed at the mosque, we stayed there. Now we called the ambassador, who sent us rations. People exchanged money, we recovered money and that allowed us to survive, to find accommodation to try to get some sleep. In any case, we feel much better, and more comfortable compared to where we were before. Our minds and our emotions are temporized, and we are calm. Well, you shouldn’t lie to yourself”.
With the Muslim holidays, the administration is slowing down—the Congolese fear they will have to wait several more days before being able to return home.