{"id":20040382,"date":"2023-05-23T12:03:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-23T10:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/?p=20040382"},"modified":"2024-08-22T10:08:16","modified_gmt":"2024-08-22T08:08:16","slug":"qastal-ashkit-border-crossing-into-egypt-re-opened-as-wadi-halfa-becomes-more-crowded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/qastal-ashkit-border-crossing-into-egypt-re-opened-as-wadi-halfa-becomes-more-crowded","title":{"rendered":"Border crossing into Egypt re-opened as Sudan’s Wadi Halfa crowded"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WADI HALFA – May 23, 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Egyptian authorities re-opened the Qustul-Ashkeet crossing to vehicles coming from Wadi Halfa yesterday, after a five-day closure. The humanitarian situation in Wadi Halfa is dire.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listener Saeed Abu Ammar told Radio Dabanga from Wadi Halfa that the number of buses allowed to enter the country per day has been limited to 30 by the Egyptian authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWadi Halfa remains crowded with people fleeing the war in Khartoum,\u201d he said. \u201cAbout 25 buses arrive from the capital each day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many tents have been set up in the border town to shelter the fleeing people until they leave for Egypt and said that the visa procedures for men aged 16 to 50* take about a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe town is witnessing an outbreak of fevers while health care is scarce,\u201d Abu Ammar added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWadi Halfa is not prepared to receive thousands of people. It has led to an unprecedented deterioration of the environment, the explosion of sewage networks and the accumulation of waste as the number of garbage trucks is not proportionate to the pressure on the small town.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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‘Wadi Halfa is not prepared to receive thousands of people’<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Ammar talked of an unprecedented rise in the prices of basic commodities, \u201cof which most, as always, come from Egypt\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Sudanese crowding in front of the Egyptian consulate in Wadi Halfa last week, waiting to obtain a visa (social media)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

According to UN reports, the number of Sudanese who fled to Egypt so far exceeds 113,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The situation at border crossings<\/a> is dire, especially at the Wadi Halfa and the Argeen border crossings into Egypt, but also at those to South Sudan and Ethiopia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The alarming waits and lack of shelter, drinking water, food, and medical supplies has led to an unconfirmed number of deaths and sparked enough concern that an open letter was shared by activist group EyesOnSudan.net<\/a>\u00a0to the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the UNHCR Egypt Representative to call for more support to those fleeing violence in Sudan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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* In 2004, Egypt and Sudan signed the so-called Four Freedoms Convention, allowing the free movement of citizens between both \u201cbrotherly countries\u201d, as well as working and owning property with no special permit. Soon, however, it became clear that Sudanese men aged between 16-50 still needed a visa to be able to cross the northern border. In 2018, the authorities in Cairo requested an amendment to some of the agreement’s clauses, including officially restricting the entry of Sudanese to Egypt. Cairo reportedly feared a massive influx of refugees from Darfur and terrorist groups from Sudan.<\/em><\/p>\n