Stalked by war and hunger for two years, more and more Sudanese civilians are desperately seeking safety in Europe, braving perilous crossings of the Libyan desert and the Mediterranean Sea.
More than four million Sudanese have fled abroad since the war between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted in 2023. Over 10 million more have been displaced inside the country, according to UN figures.
The Mixed Migration Centre, a research and policy organisation, reported a 20 percent increase in the number of Sudanese trying to reach Europe via Libya this year.
AFP has gathered firsthand accounts from those scattered along the route — some still waiting for a way out, others stuck in Libya and a few who have reached the relative safety of Europe but remain haunted by what they left behind.
– No way forward, no way back –
Ibrahim Yassin, 20, left eastern Sudan in December 2023, “hoping to reach Libya, and then Europe”.
“The journey across the desert was hellish… extreme thirst and entire days without food.”
In Libya, smugglers demanded $3,000 to continue his journey. Unable to pay, he fled to Tripoli, “hoping to find another opportunity”.
In Tripoli, a second group offered a sea crossing for $3,500, which his relatives sent after selling the family home in Sudan.
“We sailed for eight hours, before the Libyan coastguard caught us and put us in jail.”
Another $1,000 secured his release. His second attempt ended the same way.
Now, he is stranded in Tripoli — broke, undocumented and out of options.
“Now I’m lost,” he said. “No papers, no way back to Sudan and no way to reach Europe.”
– ‘I thought it would last a week’ –
Naima Azhari, 35, was living with her husband and daughter in Soba, south of Khartoum, when the war erupted.
“I thought it would last a week or two. But when the RSF took control of Khartoum, we realised there was no hope.”
In August 2023, they set out for Libya. The 10-day journey was fraught with danger.
“At every checkpoint, you pay a bribe or they threaten you. We went from one militia zone to another.”
But Tripoli offered no relief. “No stability. No jobs. Libya was even harder than the war itself.”
Naima considered returning to Sudan, but there was no safe route.
In October 2024, the family moved again — this time to Egypt, where they finally found “a better life”.
– Civil servant fleeing ‘genocide’ –
Until June 2023, Hassan, a 40-year-old civil servant, lived quietly with his wife and three children in the Darfur city of Geneina.
But then the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces began targeting the Masalit ethnic minority to which he belongs.
“They assassinated governor Khamis Abakar, who I was close to,” Hasan recalled, asking that his real name be withheld for safety reasons.
He said he and others were detained when they spoke out.
“We were beaten and tortured. They said: ‘Slaves, we have to get rid of you’.”
In January, the United States determined that the RSF had “committed genocide” in Darfur with their “systematic” targeting of ethnic minorities including the Masalit.
Hassan escaped across the desert into Libya, where he was held for two months in “an overcrowded place where migrants are exploited, insulted and beaten”.
He eventually boarded a boat and spent two days at sea before landing in Italy.
From there, he made his way to France, where he sought political asylum. Now employed in a factory, he is trying to locate his children.
“Someone on Facebook told me they were in a refugee camp in Chad. I started the process of bringing them here, but unfortunately they have no documents.
“I can’t return to Sudan, I have to bring them here. That’s my only goal now.”
– ‘I know I could die’ –
Abdelaziz Bashir, 42, once lived a modest but stable life in the city of Omdurman, just across the Nile from Khartoum.
“Everything changed in an instant,” forcing him to flee to the eastern city of Gedaref with his family.
Though now technically safe, “I’m just sitting around, there’s no work, and the economic situation gets worse every day.”
Unable to provide for his family, he has set his sights on reaching Europe.
“I know the road is dangerous, that I could die in the desert or at sea, but I have no other choice.
“It’s my only hope. If I succeed, I can change my family’s life. If I fail, at least I will have tried.”
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© Agence France-Presse
