Port Sudan - Hundreds of stranded people of various nationalities are living in harsh conditions distributed in the streets, mosques and some schools in Port Sudan, the capital of the Red Sea state in eastern Sudan, after arriving there to escape the ongoing war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum since mid-April.

With the increase in these numbers, demands for the establishment of camps and the provision of services to these stranded people have escalated, but this does not meet the enthusiasm of the Sudanese authorities, who now view the heavy foreign presence as a security threat that must be sought to be resolved.

The features of the crisis and the impact of the war are evident on the features of hundreds of people crowded in the Corniche in Port Sudan, most of them of Syrian nationality, under the displacement of a scorching sun and in a complete lack of basic services, as they struggle to obtain water and food and are forced to sleep in the open.

Not far from them, on the other side of the same Corniche, dozens of families – some from South Sudan and African countries – are on the ground, while large numbers of Syrian, Yemeni and Palestinian nationals are distributed among mosques, schools, clubs and wedding halls designated to house these groups, whose evacuation was not possible for various reasons.

Al Jazeera Net monitored the movements of organizations and volunteers to provide some meals for the stranded, and a businessman allocated an entire building to house families unable to pay the monthly rent to be a residence in it for two weeks, during which families can reconcile their conditions, and then give way to new arrivals without preconditions related to nationality or financial ability.

Ports Club turned into a headquarters to house dozens of stranded (Al Jazeera)

Neglect and an unknown fate

A group of stranded Syrians complain about the negligence of the authorities in their country and their failure to help, as many countries have done, in solving the problems of expired passports or deporting those wishing to return to Damascus.

They reported that a meeting was held between officials at the Saudi and Syrian embassies in Port Sudan to discuss the possibility of deporting those stranded to Damascus directly or within a specific period, which the majority rejected because they did not want to return to Syria.

One of the young people in the Corniche spoke to Al Jazeera Net asking not to be named for security reasons that officials at the Syrian embassy in Khartoum arrived in Port Sudan already during the past days, but they left without addressing the problems and left thousands to an unknown fate, where most of the stranded do not have money to rent apartments or to meet the requirements of daily life, and suffer compound problems after losing their sources of income in Khartoum.

He added that a number of countries have refused to tolerate granting visas to those who are able and willing to travel, and others face problems related to the expiration of the passport and therefore it is inevitable to stay on the street.

Some of those stranded sold fast food on the Corniche in an attempt to obtain a source of income to help them with daily expenses, others opened restaurants in the main market and others joined a number of professions to obtain even a small amount of money.

Radwan Wahba, a Syrian resident of Port Sudan, said that the free evacuations were subject to favoritism and were according to lists prepared by the Syrian embassy when it arrived in Port Sudan, where two planes transported only 400 people for free, after which $450 per person, even if he was an infant, was charged.

Wahba adds to Al Jazeera Net that "one family paid $ 1500,5 to travel through one of the evacuation flights," and continued, "about <>,<> Syrians currently in Port Sudan without shelter or food or enough money to travel to Syria, where the concerted efforts of some young Sudanese to help them with water and tents close to the Ports Club and in the Port Hospital in the Gulf neighborhood."

According to Wahba, about 40,8 Syrians have been able to leave Sudan over the past weeks through the airport or port to other countries, and about 15,20 others have crossed into Egypt through land crossings, while large numbers are still stuck at the crossings, while about <>,<> to <>,<> others are trapped in Khartoum and do not have money to leave.

Growing numbers

According to Red Sea State Humanitarian Commissioner Ali al-Amin, the authorities allocated 23 shelters in the early days of the crisis, which later increased with the number of arrivals to 45, and then to 85 shelters.

The Secretary speaks to Al Jazeera Net about the refusal of dozens of families from South Sudan and Chad to stay in shelters and became "a security threat and a major concern for the authority," adding that they insist on being on the street near the Corniche despite the provision of headquarters, as they refused to travel and demand the establishment of a special camp or resettlement in a third country while they are without travel documents from the foundation.

He pointed out that the state government suggested that they provide cars to transport them to Wad Madani in the state of Gezira and from there they can return to their areas, but they objected, pointing out that in the first week of the war 16,600 expatriates were accommodated in schools, clubs and boarding houses at the university, with the provision of water services, food and volunteer aid.

The commissioner says that as the number of stranded people increased, an appeal was launched for the embassies of Bangladesh, Syria and Yemen, and 90 per cent of them, most of them university students, had already been evacuated.

The government official ruled out the trend of establishing camps to house the stranded because of their high cost and that they can pose a security threat, as they are usually established to contain families, while those in Port Sudan are mostly young people of different ages and nationalities.

He pointed out that most of those in Port Sudan of Yemeni or Syrian nationalities moved their families and preferred to stay to find out the fate of companies and investments they left behind in Khartoum, while others are unable to travel for security reasons, pointing to the great pressure these conditions create on services in the state.