Follow the latest news from the Sudan crisis here
Dressed in a yellowing white robe, an elderly man with a thin silver beard and a sun-kissed face slowly turns his head away and pauses when asked about his experience at the overland crossing between Sudan and Egypt.
“Al Ghareeb Adeeb,” or “the outsider is always polite,” he said in a faint voice before he smiled and fell silent again.
“Allah kareem!” or “God is generous,” he said seconds later.
Not every Sudanese who fled the fighting in Sudan between the army and a powerful paramilitary to find refuge in Egypt was as cautious or tactful as the elderly man was when it came to details of their journey to safety.
Many among them were happy, or perhaps frustrated enough, to recount the irony of how they escaped the artillery shelling, air strikes and gunfire in Khartoum only to face another ordeal when they thought they reached safety at the two overland crossings with Egypt: Argeen and Qastal.
They spoke of days of overcrowding, suffocating heat and of nights spent on an uncomfortable bus seat or out in the open. They recounted lack — or scarcity at best — of essential services like food, water and toilets.
Those who shared their accounts said they did not feel unwelcome or resented in Egypt. They complained of bureaucratic inefficiency that caused lengthy delays and made fatigue from their 12-hour journey from Khartoum much worse.
Egypt often prides itself on being home to nine million foreign nationals who escaped fighting or came to find a better life. Egypt says they never had to spend a single day at a camp outside cities, as is the case in other countries in the region.
Seven of the nine million are believed to be Sudanese, whose social, economic and cultural bonds with Egyptians date back centuries and run deep.
Cases of racism against Sudanese nationals in Egypt are not uncommon, but they are infrequent. Tens of thousands of Egyptians live in Sudan, which has had a large Egyptian Coptic Christian community since the 19th century.
Sudanese are welcomed by local volunteers on their arrival at Karkar bus terminal, located at a village by the same name some 15 kilometres outside the southern city of Aswan.
As soon as the bus pulls over at the Karkar terminal, volunteers recognisable by their blue or red tabards, hand passengers snacks and a bottle of cold water. They also give them local sim cards with enough credit to make a few local calls.
It is also the point from which Sudanese buses cannot go farther. Passengers disembarking there get on minibuses to Cairo, Aswan or elsewhere in Egypt.
Some Aswan residents are offering Sudanese families free accommodation.
“We have also enforced a fixed fare for the ride to Cairo because the drivers were getting too greedy,” said Mohammed Sidi, a volunteer from the nearby village of Karkar.
“Four hundred Egyptian pounds ($13) to Cairo and 20 pounds to Aswan are about right.”
A Sudanese banker who last week escaped the fighting in Khartoum’s twin city of Bahri arrived in Aswan this week with about 50 relatives, friends and neighbours.
The ride, he said, cost $15,000.
“We had four days of absolute hell on the Sudanese side,” he said.
“The Egyptian side was better organised, but appeared to be working on a minimum capacity, allowing busloads of Sudanese to pile up by the dozens on the other side and only allowing two to four buses at a time to cross into the Egyptian side.”
The banker, who did not want to be named, spoke to The National at a hotel in a Nubian village near Aswan where he and 16 family members stayed.
On Sunday morning, he, his family and some relatives left for Cairo, a 12-hour ride and 1,000 kilometres to the north.
He complained that the Sudanese side of the border at the Argeen crossing, about 350 kilometres south of Aswan, frequently ran out of drinking water and had little food for the thousands there.
His account was corroborated by other Sudanese.
It was Argeen that met the initial rush of Sudanese refugees escaping to Egypt, but it was quiet on Sunday except for a handful of reporters and western relief workers. Egyptian army troops backed by armoured personnel carriers guarded the crossing.
Traffic from Sudan to Argeen was directed to Qastal at the weekend, according to security officials.
Back in the Karkar bus terminal, Sudanese refugees spoke of how they waited for a day or two at Argeen before they were directed to Qastal, also known as Ashkeet.
“At Argeen, women and men shared a mosque washroom,” said Mohammed Othman, 27, from Khartoum, who arrived in Egypt on Saturday.
“At the Egyptian side, there were two toilets, but there was such a huge demand on them that many preferred to relieve themselves in the desert,” he said.
“I stood for nine hours in a packed room waiting to be given back my passport,” he said.
A video he took with his mobile showed a bare room with paint peeling from the walls and men and women standing shoulder-to-shoulder waiting to be given back their passports so they could enter Egypt.
“There was just one official stamping passports and another entering data in a computer. Just those two and we were thousands of men, women and children. All tired, hungry and sleep deprived,” he said.
His sister Mariam, who arrived on Sunday through Qastal, was just as unhappy. She said she spent the night in her bus seat on the Sudanese border town of Wadi Halfa.
Nazar Al Tigany, a telecoms engineer from Khartoum, drove his SUV to Egypt with his wife and daughter. It took them six days to complete the journey, having stopped in two northern Sudanese towns between Khartoum and Egypt.
“I have plenty of contacts across Sudan because of my job, so my journey was fairly comfortable, except for when I arrived at Qastal. It took the Egyptian authorities 20 hours to process my car documents,” he told The National at a roadside cafe near Abu Simbel, home to one of the most majestic ancient Egyptian temples.
The fighting in Sudan broke out on April 15 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The fighting is mainly in Khartoum and the western region of Darfur.
The Sudan Doctors’ Union said at the weekend that 425 civilians were killed and 2,091 wounded so far in the fighting. The Sudanese Health Ministry on Saturday estimated the overall death toll, including fighters, at 528, with 4,500 wounded.
The UN believes the death toll could be much higher in reality.
Besides Egypt, Sudanese are also fleeing to neighbouring Ethiopia, Chad and Republic of Central Africa.
Most of those who remain in Khartoum are unable to leave their homes and are struggling with dwindling supplies and no power or water.
A series of ceasefires have been announced and agreed to by the two warring sides, but breaches have been common with each side blaming the other for the violations.
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
BABYLON
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Company%C2%A0profile
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
WHEN TO GO:
September to November or March to May; this is when visitors are most likely to see what they’ve come for.
WHERE TO STAY:
Meghauli Serai, A Taj Safari - Chitwan National Park resort (tajhotels.com) is a one-hour drive from Bharatpur Airport with stays costing from Dh1,396 per night, including taxes and breakfast. Return airport transfers cost from Dh661.
HOW TO GET THERE:
Etihad Airways regularly flies from Abu Dhabi to Kathmandu from around Dh1,500 per person return, including taxes. Buddha Air (buddhaair.com) and Yeti Airlines (yetiairlines.com) fly from Kathmandu to Bharatpur several times a day from about Dh660 return and the flight takes just 20 minutes. Driving is possible but the roads are hilly which means it will take you five or six hours to travel 148 kilometres.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The biog
Job: Fitness entrepreneur, body-builder and trainer
Favourite superhero: Batman
Favourite quote: We must become the change we want to see, by Mahatma Gandhi.
Favourite car: Lamborghini
THE TWIN BIO
Their favourite city: Dubai
Their favourite food: Khaleeji
Their favourite past-time : walking on the beach
Their favorite quote: ‘we rise by lifting others’ by Robert Ingersoll
Upcoming games
SUNDAY
Brighton and Hove Albion v Southampton (5.30pm)
Leicester City v Everton (8pm)
MONDAY
Burnley v Newcastle United (midnight)
FA%20Cup%20semi-final%20draw
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Ready Player One
Dir: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Mark Rylance
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
The specs
Engine: 2.2-litre, turbodiesel
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Power: 160hp
Torque: 385Nm
Price: Dh116,900
On sale: now
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
Company%20Profile
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu World Tour Calendar 2018/19
July 29: OTA Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan
Sep 22-23: LA Convention Centre in Los Angeles, US
Nov 16-18: Carioca Arena Centre in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Feb 7-9: Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE
Mar 9-10: Copper Box Arena in London, UK
SERIES SCHEDULE
First Test, Galle International Stadium
July 26-30
Second Test, Sinhalese Sports Club Ground
August 3-7
Third Test, Pallekele International Stadium
August 12-16
First ODI, Rangiri Dambulla Stadium
August 20
Second ODI, Pallekele International Stadium
August 24
Third ODI, Pallekele International Stadium
August 27
Fourth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
August 31
Fifth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
September 3
T20, R Premadasa Stadium
September 6
Arctic Monkeys
Tranquillity Base Hotel Casino (Domino)
More on Quran memorisation:
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
if you go
The flights
Emirates fly direct from Dubai to Houston, Texas, where United have direct flights to Managua. Alternatively, from October, Iberia will offer connections from Madrid, which can be reached by both Etihad from Abu Dhabi and Emirates from Dubai.
The trip
Geodyssey’s (Geodyssey.co.uk) 15-night Nicaragua Odyssey visits the colonial cities of Leon and Granada, lively country villages, the lake island of Ometepe and a stunning array of landscapes, with wildlife, history, creative crafts and more. From Dh18,500 per person, based on two sharing, including transfers and tours but excluding international flights. For more information, visit visitnicaragua.us.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
England-South Africa Test series
1st Test England win by 211 runs at Lord's, London
2nd Test South Africa win by 340 runs at Trent Bridge, Nottingham
3rd Test July 27-31 at The Oval, London
4th Test August 4-8 at Old Trafford, Manchester
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Mountain%20Boy
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Scoreline
Liverpool 3
Mane (7'), Salah (69'), Firmino (90')
Bournemouth 0
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
The five pillars of Islam
Titanium Escrow profile
Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday Valladolid v Osasuna (Kick-off midnight UAE)
Saturday Valencia v Athletic Bilbao (5pm), Getafe v Sevilla (7.15pm), Huesca v Alaves (9.30pm), Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid (midnight)
Sunday Real Sociedad v Eibar (5pm), Real Betis v Villarreal (7.15pm), Elche v Granada (9.30pm), Barcelona v Levante (midnight)
Monday Celta Vigo v Cadiz (midnight)
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
RACE CARD
6.30pm: Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.05pm: Meydan Sprint – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (Turf) 1,000m
7.40pm: Curlin Stakes – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (D) 2,200m
8.15pm: UAE Oaks – Group 3 (TB) $125,000 (D) 1,900m
8.50pm: Zabeel Mile – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,600m
9.25pm: Balanchine – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,800m
10pm: Al Shindagha Sprint – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,200m
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5