Refugees in Egypt: ‘We leave Sudan, but Sudan does not leave us’

At the opening party for a law office in Cairo on Nov. 22, 2024, refugees from Sudan unite with Cairo’s wider Sudanese community. Some 4 million Sudanese nationals lived in Egypt before Sudan’s war erupted and forced millions to flee.

Sudanese community members learn about Egypt’s Law Regarding the Asylum of Foreigners a few days before its ratification, in Cairo on Nov. 11, 2024. The bill calls for a new state-run committee to consolidate control over the asylum process.

Sudanese professional Seham Ali, right, explains Egypt’s new asylum bill with Egyptian lawyer and office head Yasser Farage, center, in Cairo on Nov. 11, 2024. Rights groups warn the bill “violates” and “undermines basic protections for refugees.”

Sudanese women brighten up the law office’s opening party in Cairo on Nov. 11, 2024, with their traditional thobes, or gowns, known as a “unifying national dress” and deep-rooted form of cultural expression across Sudan and South Sudan.

Atoo Amir, a Sudanese geography teacher, opened the Cairo Nights Cafe in October to help “revive Sudanese culture for those who miss it, and for the young generations born in Egypt who know little about Sudan’s heritage.” Cairo, Dec. 17, 2024.

At the Cairo Nights Cafe, Sudanese writer Abdulbaqie Ferren signs copies of his book "African Folk Literature in the Nuba Mountains," a deep dive into the intangible culture and tribal languages of the southern Sudan area, in Cairo on Dec. 13, 2024.

Sudanese and Egyptian performers share the stage in Cairo on Dec. 19, 2024, as part of the French Institute in Egypt’s “Bridges” cultural event on the sixth anniversary of the “people’s revolution” against authoritarianism in Sudan.

This shop dedicated to Sudanese goods opened at the start of the war. Over 25% of Sudan, or 12.2 million people, is now uprooted amid what the United Nations calls “a nightmare of violence, hunger, disease and displacement.” Cairo, Dec. 17, 2024.

Mona, a Sudanese English teacher, has her hair braided by her fellow displaced countrywomen in Cairo on Dec. 17, 2024. “We leave Sudan, but Sudan does not leave us,” she said.

Sudanese asylum seeker Amrieyah, left, bonds with her sister Siam and niece Waqar. “Often young Egyptians [are] bullying our people, but I see elders correcting them,” Siam said. “I hope my daughter has a better future.” Cairo, Dec. 17, 2024.