Funding cuts threaten the lives of Sudanese refugees in Egypt

The global humanitarian funding crisis has forced UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to suspend key life-saving support to refugees in Egypt, leaving tens of thousands of people – including many who fled the war in Sudan – without access to vital medical treatment, child protection services and other forms of aid.

The lack of available funds and deep uncertainty over the level of donor contributions this year has forced UNHCR to suspend all medical treatment for refugees in Egypt except emergency life-saving procedures, affecting around 20,000 patients. The suspensions include cancer surgery, chemotherapy, heart surgery and medication for chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.

Among the worst affected will be refugees from Sudan who fled to Egypt following the outbreak of a brutal conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in April 2023. Egypt has welcomed over 1.5 million Sudanese escaping what is now the world’s worst humanitarian crisis – more than any other country – including some 670,000 registered with UNHCR. Overall, more than 12.5 million Sudanese have been forced from their homes, including over 3.7 million refugees who fled to other countries.

‘Many will die’

One of those now fearing for their future because of the cuts is 54-year-old Abdelazim Mohamed, who fled Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, with his wife during the first months of the war, in part because treatment for his serious and long-standing heart condition became impossible to find.

“When life became unbearable back home, especially because there were no health facilities operating and finding medicine was very difficult, I felt that staying in Sudan with my condition would be suicide,” he said.

UNHCR Public Health Officer Jakob Arhem, based in Cairo, explained that in addition to escaping conflict and violence, access to health care was a key factor for many Sudanese refugees who have arrived in Egypt. “The Sudanese health system was one of the first things that collapsed after the onset of fighting, and many of the families who fled did so with sick members who could no longer find treatment in Sudan,” he said.

However, while refugees have been granted access to Egypt’s national health system, very few can afford the fees that come with it, Arhem added.

“UNHCR set up programmes that make certain health services available to refugees that they otherwise would not afford,” he explained. “The consequences for people who will no longer get our support are hard to measure, [but] many of them will not be able to find the means to pay for health care themselves and they will get sicker, weaker and many will die.

“To shut down activities that you know are life-saving is very hard, and the very opposite of what anyone wants to do who has chosen to work as a humanitarian.”

‘I don’t know if I’ll make it’

After leaving their comfortable home and lives behind, Abdelazim and his wife now live in a small, rented apartment in the sprawling Faisal neighbourhood of Cairo, midway between downtown and the ancient pyramids of Giza.

After registering with UNHCR in Cairo shortly after their arrival, Abdelazim was referred to the agency’s health partner and diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and ischemic heart disease. He had two successful procedures to place stents in his coronary arteries. “I was slowly dying, and I knew it, but after the interventions, I could finally see myself living healthily for as long as I am meant to.”

But with UNHCR currently unable to provide the medication that keeps his underlying condition in check, he worries that his time is running out. “I fought so hard to survive, but now, I don’t know if I’ll make it. If I can’t afford my medicine, what happens to me? What happens to my wife if something happens to me?”

Last year, UNHCR received less than 50 per cent of the $135 million it needed to help more than 939,000 registered refugees and asylum-seekers from Sudan and 60 other countries now living in Egypt. But the drastic reduction in humanitarian funding since the start of this year has led to critical shortages, forcing UNHCR to make impossible choices over which life-saving programmes to suspend or maintain.

At present, UNHCR is prioritizing critical life-saving activities and helping the most vulnerable groups, including unaccompanied children and survivors of sexual violence and torture. Yet without an urgent increase in funding, even these programmes are under threat.

UNHCR Child Protection Officer in Egypt, Farah Nassef, described one case involving a young Sudanese man who had arrived as an unaccompanied minor. He was receiving full-time care for his mental and physical disabilities, but the support was recently withdrawn due to the current funding situation.

“Despite him having no family, no community support, it means that he will be left in an extremely dire and difficult situation,” Nassef said. “We see such cases day in and day out … You see people on some of the worst days of their lives, and often you cannot help them with everything they ask for, or the support you can provide is simply not enough.”

UNHCR is calling on all donors – including governments, private companies and individuals – to urgently support refugees and displaced people around the world who are already suffering the devastating impact of reduced funding and support.

“The needs of refugees fleeing Sudan are growing by the day, but funding is not keeping pace,” said Marti Romero, Deputy Representative at UNHCR Egypt. “Egypt is under immense strain, and essential services are being pushed to the limit. Without immediate international action, both refugees and host communities will face even greater hardship. We need urgent and sustained support to prevent this crisis from worsening.”

Millions of refugees and displaced people worldwide risk losing access to life-saving aid due to brutal cuts in global humanitarian funding. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has the expertise, experience and determination to keep protecting people forced to flee, but we urgently need donors – individuals, businesses and governments – to step up. Please donate today to help us reach the most vulnerable. Lives depend on it.