Egypt government scheme offers free train rides home to Sudanese refugees

Hundreds of people gathered at Cairo’s central train station on Monday to start the journey back home to war-torn Sudan.

The travel is part of a campaign by the Egyptian government providing free train rides back to Khartoum, the capital, which has been recently recaptured by Sudanese Armed Forces from its rival the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF.

Sudan has experienced a civil war since April 2023.

The battle for power between the military and the RSF has caused one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. Over 40,000 people have been killed, and the war has caused one of the world's largest displacement crises.

People have already started returning back to the capital as its slowly rebuilds since its recapture a couple of months ago.

Egypt hosts the largest number of Sudanese refugees from the war, with over 1.5 million people fleeing across to its border.