Between 60,000 and 90,000 Syrian citizens are currently trapped by armed conflict in Sudan after the promise of free passage back to Syria failed to materialise. Reports estimate that since fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary group two months ago, more than 700 people have died and over one million people have been internally displaced in the northeast African country.
Ahmed D., 41, from Aleppo, is one of the many Syrians who had settled in Sudan. “I arrived in Khartoum in February 2018,” he said. “I stayed in Syria until finding work and the means to [support] my family became really impossible.”
Since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Sudan has maintained easier entry requirements for Syrians than other countries in the region. Ahmed moved to Khartoum when a former colleague offered him a job in a textile factory. The work allowed him to send money back home, making his family one of thousands across Syria that use remittances from abroad as a lifeline.
