Caring for Sudanese refugees and Egyptians in Aswan, Egypt

“We had a comfortable life in Sudan and leaving it was very difficult,” Khaled says. He is one of the 1.5 million Sudanese people living in Egypt, many of whom crossed after the recent war started in 2023.

Originally from Jezirah, Sudan, he now lives with his family in Daraw, a little town in the Egyptian governorate of Aswan, after being internally displaced in Sudan for months. “Our home country is left without health care, and older people like me cannot stay long without it,” he adds. 

In Daraw, MSF runs a mobile clinic in partnership with the Om Habibeh Foundation (OHF), an Egyptian organization with a long history in Aswan governorate. The two organizations started mobile clinic activities in January 2025 in five locations across Aswan governorate. 

Every morning, a joint MSF and OHF team consisting of doctors, nurses, psychologists, and health educators visit communities to provide primary medical care to Sudanese and Egyptian people who do not have access elsewhere. 

Community coordination to reach people in need

Since we started our activities, MSF and OHF knew that to reach the targeted communities and adapt to their needs, we needed to engage closely with them. While Egyptian and Sudanese people co-exist in Aswan, their needs and challenges in accessing care are different. 

For many Sudanese refugees, who left their homes with very little, their legal status often determines their freedom of movement and access to health care. 

“Fleeing war and leaving their homes behind add a serious toll on people’s mental health,” says Moses Luhanga, MSF health promotion activity manager in Egypt. “We see a lot of patients who suffer from anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to their pasts—what they went through, whether in Sudan or on their journey here, and the uncertainty of their current lives.”

Community engagement makes it possible to reach people and get a sense of what they need, and our teams work with several community mobilizers.

Costs remain the biggest challenge to accessing care

For many people, the biggest constraint when it comes to reaching facilities or buying prescribed medications is the financial cost.

Heba*, an Egyptian mother of seven, told us she finds it difficult to cover all her medical bills and feed her children at the same time. “While I do have access to the public services as an Egyptian citizen, I prefer to come here as I receive all my medications for free,” she says. “It helps me save some money for my family, instead of paying at the pharmacy.” For many in the governorate of Aswan—Sudanese and Egyptians alike—the cost of living is increasing, making it more difficult for people to feed their families. 

More Egyptians are now coming to receive care in our mobile clinics, but most of the patients remain Sudanese. 

Some villages have doubled in size with the arrival of refugees

Karkar, a small town initially home to close to 200 Egyptian families, saw the number of residents double with the arrival of around 200 families who fled the war in Sudan. Thousands arrived in the course of a few weeks carrying barely anything with them, and humanitarian needs also increased. 

“The Egyptian people were very welcoming since the very beginning, and still are,” says Ala’a, who has been working as a community mobilizer for the past four years in Karkar. She acts as the main link between community members and the organizations providing humanitarian aid.  

“There was a big community solidarity between families, but the needs became too big, and we cannot be left without additional assistance,” Ala’a adds. “The demand for mental health is huge. When I first announced that a psychologist was coming to Karkar, more than 500 people showed interest.” 

War in Sudan has disrupted care for patients with complex needs

Despite being legally registered in Egypt, Khaled limits his movements around the country for emergencies only, fearing stigma and harassment that are becoming increasingly frequent. “We’re well received in Daraw and the community here treats us well, but individual incidents can occur and they can be unpleasant,” he says. 

Asma*, 64, left Sudan in May 2023, a month after the war broke out, to find refuge with two of her children in Daraw. Asma suffers from diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases. She was forced to leave Sudan when she could not find health care anymore in Khartoum. 

“The few family members that I still have in Khartoum had to sell many of our belongings there to support us financially here,” she says. “We used to own several shops for our businesses, now things have changed for us all.”

Care beyond basic medical needs 

In Karkar, Aliya*, a mother of three, came to the clinic when she found out she was pregnant with her fourth child. “I was very relieved when I was told that my delivery would be taken care of by the medical team, including transportation costs to the hospital,” she says. “I do not have enough money to pay for it.”

Aliya’s three children also come to the mobile clinic whenever they need to receive care, as well as to play with other children during group activities. “I feel happy when I see my children playing and happy,” she says. “Thank God, this is all what I want for them now. These activities do them good, especially mentally and emotionally.”

“I stayed nine months in Sudan with my family before we decided to seek refuge in Egypt, as things became unbearable,” adds Aliya. “It was a horrible journey. We walked for days in the desert, it was very cold at night, and we did not have enough food or water. I would stay for hours without any water, as I would keep my share for my children.” 

Aliya is now settled in Karkar with her family. She is a daily worker, as is her husband, in order to provide some money and stability for their family. She feels safe here, as long as her children are safe and in good health. 

Every day, MSF referral nurses follow up with patients who require additional services that neither MSF nor OHF provide. While many patients require secondary medical care, others ask for non-medical services such as protection, financial, or social support. Since the introduction of this new referral service in September 2025, more than 80 patients have been referred to other organizations, reflecting on the high need for further care.

*Names of patients have been changed