Sudanese families fleeing to Egypt separated by new visa rules

Cairo [Egypt], June 23: Elsafi Mahdi was separated from his wife and three younger children on June 1 near Sudan's border with Egypt. He does not know when he'll see them again.
Like many families fleeing the war in the capital Khartoum, Mahdi, a prominent music teacher and conductor, left home without a visa required for entry to Egypt.
His elder sons aged 19 and 17 needed their passports renewed, a task that became impossible as the conflict paralysed central government offices.
Mahdi and the two elder boys turned back to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast, while the rest of the family headed north to Cairo.
"I'm so close to my young children, they did not accept the idea," said Mahdi, whose family decided to leave Bahri, part of Sudan's wider capital, after hearing heavy air strikes from their home.
"I was telling them that I will join them in two or three days in Egypt, but I knew it was not easy and that it would take a very long time."
More than 2.5 million people have been uprooted by the conflict between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that erupted on April 15, including an estimated 600,000 who have crossed into neighbouring states.
Over 250,000 have crossed into Egypt, which on June 10 began requiring that all Sudanese obtain entry visas.
Previously, only men aged 16-50 needed visas, meaning that many women, children and elderly crossed while men stayed behind in the northern Sudanese town of WadiHalfa waiting for days or weeks to apply for visas at the Egyptian consulate.
On June 13, the United Nations said about 12,000 displaced families were staying in WadiHalfa. Witnesses say some of those who reached the town have recently retreated to larger towns and cities in northern Sudan, hoping for a change in rules that would allow easier access for refugees.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation