Accusations of Sudanese government officials trading in visa to Egypt
moatinoon
A report published by Al-Hurra revealed the suffering of Sudanese wishing to travel to Egypt in obtaining a visa. According to Sudanese who applied for the Egyptian visa, the waiting period for the visa is often more than 6 months, while the number of applicants for the visa has reached more than 15 thousand pending applications, until last April, according to serial figures seen by Al-Sareh.
The long wait prompted many applicants to get a visa to resort to quirky ways to get it.
According to "Free", the community activist, Loai Ibrahim, accused government officials and employees of exploiting their positions to trade on the Egyptian visa. "The Egyptian consulate, like others, receives requests from the Government of the Sudan to complete the procedures for travel of some officials or employees to Egyptian territory for official or family missions, but these requests include names of persons unrelated to the Government."
"Some officials send official letters to the Egyptian consulate to obtain the visa, which includes a number of names purporting to be public servants, while most of them are citizens who paid the applicant a sum of money as a bribe."
He noted that the accusations in this regard affected a number of managers of the offices of a number of Sudanese ministers, noting that "this does not preclude the possibility of Egyptian involvement in Egyptian visa acquisitions in twisted ways".
The community activist pointed out that some Sudanese doctors and some Sudanese hospitals sell incorrect medical reports to some people to offer them to the Egyptian consulate for visa in a short time. "
"Because of the long wait I found myself having to pay 1650 to a middleman to speed up my visa from the Egyptian consulate in Port Sudan," one person wishing to obtain the visa said.
Noting that he had decided to use this option after his friend had obtained the visa in the same way, he noted that he expected to receive it within a week, while he would have received the visa within 6 months, if he decided to wait for the official list.
The Sudanese social researcher, Muntasser Abdelmalik, linked the difficulty of obtaining an Egyptian visa to the escalating rates of smuggling of Sudanese into Egypt through off-road roads.
"The Egyptian consulate in Port Sudan receives hundreds of visa applications every day, and the more battles between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) enter a new area, the higher the number of visa applicants."
He pointed out that the backlog of applications and the length of waiting time had helped in the emergence of entities purporting to be specialized agencies or offices, helping to provide visas to Egypt, although most of them were brokers working without ratifications.
He added: "This has created an atmosphere for the marshals, brokers and vulnerable people who have exploited the need of the Sudanese to escape the hell of war, to reap money and achieve dreams of rapid richness."
In January 2004, the Sudan and Egypt signed an agreement guaranteeing freedom of movement, residence, work and property, between the two countries, in what is known as the Four Freedoms Convention.
The Sudanese growing desire to reach Egypt has led to unprecedented congestion in front of the headquarters of the Egyptian consulate in Port Sudan, eastern Sudan, and border crossings between the two countries.
After the signing of the agreement, citizens of the two countries are guaranteed unrestricted travel or visas, except for those over 16 years of age, and not more than 49 years of age, who wish to enter Egypt.
Following the outbreak of the war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces on 15 April 2023, Sudanese Cairo was obliged to obtain a visa or security approval from its consulates in a number of Sudanese cities.
