Egypt provides free train rides for Sudanese refugees returning home

CAIRO (AP) — Hundreds of people who have been displaced by fighting in Sudan gathered Monday at the central train station in Cairo to begin a free journey home.

The Egyptian government is funding train rides to Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, which recently was recaptured by the Sudanese Armed Forces from its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF.

Sudan has been in the throes of civil war since April 2023. The battle for power between the military and the RSF has caused a humanitarian crisis. Over 40,000 people have been killed and the war has caused one of the world’s largest displacement emergencies.

Egypt hosts the largest number of Sudanese refugees from the war with over 1.5 million people who fled north across the border. Over 7 million have been displaced internally as the war engulfed much of the country. The RSF took Khartoum at the start of the fighting in 2023 and held the capital until the government declared its recapture on May 20.

Khartoum was largely destroyed, including the presidential palace and the airport, but is experiencing a slow rebirth as residents return and markets reopen. Electricity and basic services are not fully operational around the city.

The journey from Cairo to Khartoum is about 2,080 kilometers (1,292 miles) and will include a train ride of about 12 hours to the southern Egyptian city of Aswan, where riders will change to ferries and buses to cross into Sudan.

People packed their lives in small suitcases as they as they filled the train Monday. Some cried with “overwhelming emotions” including sadness and joy about leaving Egypt and returning home, said Sudanese journalist Asem al-Taieb, one of the train riders.

“I am happy because I am finally going back to my family and my children,” said Awatef al Hassan, originally from Omdurman, Sudan, who is returning with her daughter.