Security, Legality, and Strategies for Solidarity Among Sudanese Irregular Migrants Crossing the Sudan-Egypt Border amid the April 15, 2023, Conflict.
Abstract
This paper is part of an ongoing research project that I started in October 2023, in which I investigate borders and mobility in relation to the Sudanese conflict that began on April 15, 2023. The paper explores the lived experiences of Sudanese refugees who cross the Sudan-Egypt border "illegally" in response to altered mobility regimes, which were influenced by the conflict that erupted in Sudan on April 15, 2023. The study builds upon the critical legacy developed in border and migration studies, drawing on contributions such as John Torpey's work on passports and the state monopoly on means of movement, the theoretical framework of the Autonomy of Migration, and Judith Butler's notion of the Precarity of Life.
This research employs qualitative methodology, conducting in-depth interviews to elicit the border-crossing experiences lived by the refugees while crossing from Sudan into Egypt. The sample was collected through the snowball technique, coupled with the observation among various neighbours who fled from the city of Port Sudan in eastern Sudan to Egypt. The paper comprises several sections: first, the forms of precarity that affect individuals' lives, produced by the Egyptian state through border regimes after the conflict in Sudan. In this section, I offer background on the evolution of the border regime between Sudan and Egypt and shed light on the conflict eruption in Sudan. Second, addressing the meaning of “security” and “legality” that individuals and families produced through their crossing. Finally, the paper explores family-based and extended family solidarity strategies during the crossing process, as well as forms of temporary solidarity that arose among Sudanese refugees.
Keywords:
Border Regime, Route, Security, Legality, family-centere strategies.