A Sudanese-American journalist recounts his experience fleeing Khartoum
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The building in old Khartoum where KushKush stayed for eight days.Isma'il KushKush -
Isma'il KushKush, Sudanese-American journalistFahmo Mohammed
More than 100,000 people have fled Sudan since the conflict between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary group known as Rapid Support Forces erupted.
-American journalist Isma'il Kushkush was in Sudan working on a reporting project and taking care of some family matters when full-on war broke out in Khartoum, the country's capital. For eight days, he found himself trapped in a building. When food and other supplies began to run out, KushKush and 32 people other people he was trapped with — including children and the elderly — knew they had to leave.
Getting out of the building was just the beginning of a terrifying ten-day journey to get out of Sudan, and across the border into Egypt. Eventually he arrived to safety, and reflected on the experience in an interview with NPR's Leila Fadel.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Some of the excerpts did not air in the broadcast version.
Interview excerpts
On getting out of the building
There was a debate about whether or not to leave the building. We did not think we would get a direct hit because the trajectory of the gunfire was parallel to the building. We could have been hit by stray bullets, but we were fearful that our soldiers might storm the building to take over the building or possibly be hit by a misguided missile strike. We were a few blocks away from the Republican Palace. We would hear the sounds of fire from jet fighters. So that was our major concern.
We thought the building was the safest option. Water was low, food was low, and we were trying to coordinate with some groups to leave the building in contact with the Rapid Support Forces. But it was always too dangerous to leave ... After three attempts failed, there were negotiations with some soldiers outside to allow the people in the building, including six children, and some elderly people, to walk down the street. The soldiers agreed and said our passage would be safe to a certain point, but they couldn't guarantee after that.
On walking out of Khartoum
We were divided into two groups. One continued westward to cross the great bridge into Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city across the White Nile. A group decided to go southward in Khartoum to west Khartoum, where we had arrangements to stay in an apartment. Perhaps for an hour, we walked and looked at how the city had been destroyed, many shops looted. We saw a city bus, and an older woman ran to it asking if it was leaving the city. The bus was on its way to Egypt. We said we'd like to go to Egypt on this bus if space allowed. Even if we just sat on the floor of the bus. At this point, five of us were able to continue the journey, paying for our seats to stay on this bus, to head northward to Egypt.
On reaching the border between Sudan and Egypt
It took us one day just to get to the actual gate. Food was scarce, water scarce, access to restrooms. Some slept on the bus, some on the sidewalk. The next day, the bus was able to move into the space between the Sudan and Egypt gate. We spent another day there trying to get our exit visas from Sudan and then our entry visas to Egypt. All of that took almost three days.
The cost of traveling and trying to get out increased by the hour. We paid $330 for the seat, which cost $200 the day before. I hear it's up to $700, $800 now. Most Sudanese people who left in the first days were the Sudanese middle class. Those who could afford to leave, those who left Khartoum, were the lucky ones.
On his desire to document what he has witnessed
I had been wanting to write an essay about the city of Khartoum, and walking through the streets and seeing the destruction of old buildings. Places you have memories of. To see how in one week the destruction came upon those places, and not to know where some friends and relatives are.
On Sudan's future
With the [Sudanese] revolution in 2019, there was great hope that that would be the final episode of instability and that there would be a genuine transition into democracy. I think these events of the last few weeks put a further dent into that dream.
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Transcript
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The last time Sudanese American journalist Isma'il Kushkush was on NPR, he was stuck in Khartoum.
ISMA'IL KUSHKUSH: We think they haven't stormed the building yet because there are several internationals in the building. But we just don't know how things are going to go. There's also jet fighters. And we fear that, mistakenly, a missile could hit the building. There are four children in the building and a few elderly in the building. But that's the situation we are at the moment.
FADEL: We reached him again for the first time in days. He's made it out of Sudan.
You were trapped in a building in Khartoum with gunfire on both sides. How long were you stuck?
KUSHKUSH: Eight days.
FADEL: Eight days of water and food running low, of having to decide whether to stay or leave. After negotiating with soldiers who agreed to offer them temporary safe passage, 32 people, including six children who were trapped together, walked out of the building in old Khartoum. The group split in two. One went westward, Isma'il went south.
KUSHKUSH: We walked, perhaps, for an hour, looking at how the city was destroyed, many of the shops looted. We saw a large 50-seater bus coming into this particular compound. The bus was on its way to Egypt. So we said that if the space allowed, we'd like to go with this bus to Egypt, even if we just sat on the floor of the bus. So we made that agreement. At this point, five of us were able to continue the journey, paying for our seats to stay on this bus to head northward to Egypt.
FADEL: So it started with 32 people from the building, and it ended up with five people on that bus to the border.
KUSHKUSH: Yes.
FADEL: So you get to the border, which is a possible exit from the country. What did it look like? And what did you have to go through to get out?
KUSHKUSH: There was a long, long line of 50-seater buses - I would say 200 to 300 buses - waiting to get into the border. It took us one day just to get to the actual gate. Food was scarce. Water was scarce. Access to restrooms, finding ways to charge one's phone, I think all of this was just very difficult. Some slept on the bus, some on the sidewalk. We spent another day there trying to get our exit visas from Sudan and then our entry visas into Egypt. All of that took almost three days.
FADEL: How much did the entire trip cost?
KUSHKUSH: So the costs of traveling and trying to get out, I think, were increasing by the hour. I'm hearing that the prices are just continuing to rise. The day before we paid, I think the cost of the seat was around $200. We paid $330. I'm hearing it's up to $700, $800 now.
FADEL: That's a lot of money anywhere. But for an average Sudanese family, is that something people can afford?
KUSHKUSH: Not most Sudanese families. The people who left in the first days are the Sudanese middle class and those who could afford to leave. Those who left Khartoum and the fighting in Khartoum were the lucky ones.
FADEL: When you finally made it to Aswan, which was your first stop in Egypt after crossing the border, physically, how were you? I mean, after doing this arduous journey, I'm sure you weren't thinking about, oh, I'm tired or I'm hungry or thirsty until that moment.
KUSHKUSH: Aswan literally was a breath of fresh air. It's a quiet town. The water - the Nile waters in Aswan are clear compared to Khartoum or Cairo. The people were very welcoming. The large influx of Sudanese families into Aswan - I made travel plans from Aswan to Cairo. Planes, trains, buses were booked for days in advance, so I ended up staying a few days in Aswan. It ended up being, I think, a good opportunity just to relax a little bit, think about what had happened and about the next steps.
FADEL: When you think about what had happened, what has happened and what you've been through, what are you thinking about?
KUSHKUSH: I think, with the revolution in 2019, there was great hope that that would be the final episode of instability and that there would be a genuine transition into democracy. These events of the last few weeks put a further dent into that dream. I think one of the more - one of the difficult things is realizing that I was one of the very few journalists in downtown Khartoum at the time wanting to work and wanting to do the work that journalists should be doing at these times and not being able to do so...
FADEL: Yeah.
KUSHKUSH: ...Not having the full equipment, the backing, the support - being in the position to do so, but just realizing that I would not have been able to do any reporting safely by myself in that position.
FADEL: You sat stuck in a building because of gunfire for eight days. And then you walked out into a Khartoum that looked significantly different. If you could describe that city that you walked out into and what was most jarring about what you saw.
KUSHKUSH: I had been wanting to write an essay about Khartoum, about the city of Khartoum. And walking through some of the streets and seeing the destruction of old buildings, you know, places that you have memories, places that you've been with friends - and to see how in one week, the destruction that came upon those places. In one week, all of that has changed. But again, I think this is something that many of us expected. We had hoped that it wouldn't happen. But I think many of us are still committed to some of the same dreams that the revolution brought about in 2019.
FADEL: Isma'il Kushkush, a journalist who's covered Sudan for many years and just got out of Khartoum.
Thank you so much for your time.
KUSHKUSH: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF AUXJACK'S "FIRESIDE CHAT") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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