Ismail took two years to reach Britain from Sudan, where he ran away from a constant struggle to live and survive from struggle.
Two years in a cruel civil war, Sudan is in the grip of what the United Nations has called the world’s “worst human crisis”. The latest data of the United Nations Office for coordination of human affairs suggest that 30.4 million people need humanitarian assistance, while more than 12 million people have been displaced from April 2023.
Violence erupted in Sudan in April 2023 Long tension broke between its military and paramilitary leaders In the capital, Khartum, and spread to other areas.
Ismail, 37, started his journey from the city of Al-Fashir, where he was born and raised. The city in the Darfur region of South -West Sudan is now under constant bombing and is mostly cut off from the outside world.
The first phase of Ismail’s journey took him across Sahara, one of the largest and most incompetent deserts in the world. On the way, Laurie was carrying her and others broke. It took Ismail about two months to reach Libya, where Thousands of migrants and refugees worked as dangerous crossings Europe across the Mediterranean Sea every year.
In Libya, Ismail paid equal to about 1,000 pounds in Libya’s currency for place on a boat for Italy. The route is one of the deadliest in the world for migrants And refugee. According to the United Nations, more than 2,200 people lost their lives to try crossing in 2024 alone.
Ismail said, “They have much bigger boats from the European Union.” Independent“They know that migrants try to cross the Mediterranean Sea.”
From there, Ismail continued his journey by train from Milan to Paris. But the final stretch – from Kallis to the UK – also put his life in danger.
He said, “There are trains that carry lorry in Britain.” “I went to the station. Police and security didn’t see me. I just jumped and lay down between a lorry and train.”
After passing through the channel tunnel and reaching Dover, Ismail was stopped by the British police. He was then taken to a residence in Liverpool.
Till that time, he did not talk to his family in more than two years. He did not even know that he made it in the UK.
“They were very happy that I was safe and alive,” he said.
Ismail put his life at risk to travel in the hope of supporting his family, many of which lived in Zamzam refugee camp after their home in al-Fashir, destroyed by missile strikes.
“Even for my brothers, there is no place to work to bring money, that’s why I am trying to help them” he said.
But Zamzam refugee camp, which is the largest in Sudan, is far from safe. it is Often targeted by rapid support forces (RSF), A paramilitary force that developed from the so -called Janjawed Military.
“He saw people dying in front of him,” Ismail said. “Even the people I know – my relatives – were killed in the last.”
Ismail, once worked as a kitchen porter, is now a job in a warehouse in North London. The money he is able to send home has created a concrete difference: it helped his family buy land and build a house in al-Fashir.
“When I got the right to work [in the UK]I managed to save some money and bought a piece of land in al-Fashir. I built a house there. It was really good, “he said.
But the war broke the small victory, as his family was forced to flee the house that he had worked so hard to provide.
After his five -year refugee position ended, Ismail was awarded British citizenship. This allowed him to return to Sudan last year, where he was married. His wife is now heavily pregnant and is living in a refugee camp in Uganda, helping Ismail to give up the violence.
He said, “I tried to bring him here before giving birth, but I did not find any solution. I want him to come here and stay with me forever.”
Under the current UK rules, refugees or people gave human protection, applying to family reunion if they were already in a relationship or had children before fleeing their country. But the process is often long, complex and uncertain.
Over the last two years, According to the United Nations, at least 24,000 people have been killed in Sudan.But the workers believe that the true toll is much more. Meanwhile, aid camps have been burnt on the ground and children have been raped.
Ismail said, “People do not know what is happening in Sudan at this time or in the past, because there are no journalists that are going on.
Watch the full episode of unheard here: I survived the war. My family is still stuck. Unheard