Egypt announced imposing an entry visa for Sudanese citizens coming to its territory, after “the spread of illegal activities,” according to a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Saturday.
Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Ahmed Abu-Zeid, explained in the statement that “The Egyptian authorities have introduced regulatory procedures based on automated visas to confront these crimes.”
“The Egyptian consulates in Sudan have been provided with the necessary electronic devices to implement these procedures in an accurate, fast and secure manner, ensuring the orderly arrival of Sudanese citizens to Egypt,” he added.
“During the past period, it was noticed that illegal activities were spread by individuals and groups on the Sudanese side of the border, which forged entry visas to Egypt for the purpose of profiting, taking advantage of the need of Sudanese citizens to come to Egypt, and the good intentions of the Egyptian side to respond and absorb the large influx of arrivals.”
Abu-Zeid explained that “These measures aim to set an organizational framework for the entry of Sudanese into Egypt after more than 50 days have passed since the crisis, and are not intended to prevent or limit the number of Sudanese citizens arriving.”
He pointed out that “Egypt has received more than 200,000 Sudanese citizens since the outbreak of the crisis until today, and it is considered one of the neighboring countries that receive the most Sudanese, and these numbers are added to the nearly five million Sudanese citizens who were already present in Egypt since before the beginning of the crisis.”
“It must be taken into account that the responsibility for providing the health, educational and housing infrastructure for all of them rests with the Egyptian government, which is responsible for providing basic services to the Sudanese citizens on its territory,” he concluded.
UN support
The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) allocated five million dollars to support UN humanitarian efforts in Egypt directed towards people fleeing violence and conflict in Sudan, including refugees, returnees and asylum-seekers, as well as the communities hosting them.
The fund said in a statement: “Since the beginning of the crisis, Egypt has received the largest number of arrivals from the war in Sudan, as it is estimated that more than 113,000 people have arrived at the Egyptian-Sudanese border as of May 17, 2023.”
“The numbers are increasing rapidly with the arrival of up to 5,000 people per day to the borders of Qastal and Arqin crossings. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees expects that the total arrivals to Egypt will reach 350,000 people within the next six months,” it added.
