Bekheita’s Story, Egypt
Photo by Ahmed Abughazalah/2014.
Is it possible to become a refugee one day? This is definitely one of the questions that I never asked myself. I was studying literature at Khartoum University, had my own car, and a bank account. In other words, I had a normal and comfortable life in the Nuba Mountains, Sudan. But, I was a politically active person and became a target of the Sudanese government because of the growing insecurity in my region.
I fled to Khartoum after the violent clashes between the state and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) that took place in my region in 2011. I faced the threat of being arrested. So I fled to Sennar city, located some 6 hours by car south from Khartoum, only to be captured there. I was put under house arrest and was harassed all the time by the personnel. Situation was getting worse, and I had to sell my car to sustain myself financially.
Hence, I escaped and made my way down to South Sudan where I sought asylum. But the environment was not safe there either. Ultimately, I fled to Egypt in April 2012 and sought asylum again. I am now suffering from insufficient financial assistance or necessary working skills in Cairo. I worked as a cleaner in three houses. Yet, I kept failing in regularizing my job because I am not familiar with the cleaning techniques adopted in the Egyptian houses. I was not working in Sudan. It is my first time to have work like this.
I now live with my relatives in the Kilo 4.5 area in Greater Cairo but I do not have regular accommodation. I am a single woman with no one to take care of me.
