Cairo says all Sudanese must have a visa before crossing the border, overturning an exemption for women and children.
Egypt has announced a new policy requiring all citizens of neighboring Sudan to obtain a visa before crossing the border as a United States-Saudi Arabia-brokered ceasefire came into effect in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.
Egypt’s foreign ministry imposed the new rules on Saturday, justifying the move as a crackdown on “illegal activities”, including fraud.
The decision was a reversal of a long-standing exemption for children, women and older men.
Fighting broke out two months ago between the army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by Burhan’s former deputy sheriff Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
The intense clashes have killed more than 1,800 people and displaced more than 1.9 million people, according to a monitoring group.
Egypt’s foreign ministry said the new visa procedures are intended to “regulate the entry of the brotherly Sudanese [people] to Egypt after more than 50 days of crisis” in their country.
It said the new requirements were not intended to “prevent or restrict the entry of Sudanese nationals”, but to stop “illegal activities by individuals and groups on the Sudanese side of the border, who falsify entry visas” for profit.
“Egypt has welcomed more than 200,000 Sudanese citizens since the start of the crisis… in addition to the approximately five million Sudanese citizens already present in the country before the war,” it added.
Egypt’s foreign ministry stressed in its statement that its consulates in Sudan are equipped with “the necessary electronic devices to carry out these regulations accurately, quickly and securely and to ensure the orderly entry of Sudanese citizens”.
People who have made the long journey to the Egyptian-Sudanese border have complained about poor conditions and long waiting times.
On Saturday, two people who attempted to cross the Ashkeit border said they had been turned back because the new rule had come into effect.
“We spent two nights in the neutral area and now they are sending us back,” said Dr Sundus Abbas, who spoke to Reuters by phone between the countries’ checkpoints.
“Some people refuse to leave,” she added.
The new rules were imposed as a 24-hour ceasefire came into effect in Khartoum, providing a window for humanitarian aid and giving the public a break from the intense fighting.
Previous ceasefires had allowed some humanitarian access, but aid agencies reported continuing to be hampered by the fighting, bureaucratic control and looting.
Medical aid organization Médecins Sans Frontières said on Saturday its staff had been stopped by RSF soldiers and were “obliged” to make a statement that was later circulated by the armed forces.
The Sudanese army and the RSF, a parallel force that has been operating legally since 2017, fell out over plans to integrate their forces and reorganize their chain of command as part of a transition to civilian rule, four years after a popular uprising overthrew strongman President Omar. – Bashir.