CAIRO: On a sweltering Monday morning at Cairo’s main railway station, hundreds of Sudanese families stood waiting, with bags piled at their feet and children in tow, to board a train bound for a homeland shattered by two years of war.
The war is not yet over, but with the army having regained control of key areas and life in Egypt often hard, many refugees have decided now is the time to head home.
“It’s an indescribable feeling,” said Khadija Mohamed Ali, 45, seated inside one of the train’s aging carriages, her five daughters lined beside her.
“I’m happy that I’ll see my neighbors again – my family, my street,” she said ahead of her return to the capital Khartoum, still reeling from a conflict that has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 14 million.
She was among the second group of refugees traveling under Egypt’s voluntary return program, which offers free transportation from Cairo to Khartoum, more than 2,000 kilometers away by train and bus.
