Egypt's strict visa rule change leaves thousands of displaced Sudanese in peril: HRW

Egypt’s recent decision to require all Sudanese people entering the country to obtain a visa beforehand has put those escaping the ongoing war in Sudan in peril, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday.

As of the end of last month, thousands of Sudanese fleeing war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary have remained stranded in dire humanitarian conditions in Sudan as they wait for entry visas from Egyptian consulates.

The displaced have been compelled to wait up to a month as they struggle to secure food, accommodation, and health care, the rights group said.

"The Egyptian government should rescind its entry visa rule for Sudanese nationals during the current crisis, permit them swift entry, and facilitate access to asylum procedures or treat them as the refugees most if not all are," said Amr Magdi, senior Middle East and North Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Before war broke out in Sudan in mid-April, Egypt already required Sudanese men between the ages of 16 and 49 to obtain a visa to enter the country.

But as hundreds of thousands of people fled the violence, Egypt last month expanded this rule to include all Sudanese, including women and the elderly, who are especially vulnerable to the impact of war.

Egyptian authorities claimed the new entry visa rule would help limit "illegal activities", including fraud.

Egypt is currently hosting a summit with leaders of neighbouring countries to discuss the war, as well as other issues of regional significance including the Renaissance Dam.

Some counts put the Sudan war death toll at more than 2,000.

Egypt has so far taken in 250,000 refugees from Sudan, according to the UN refugee agency. An estimated two to five million Sudanese were in Egypt before the war began.