Jan Egeland meets family from Geneina  

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NRC Secretary General Jan Egeland meets Fathi, 38, brother of two sisters with disabilities and chronic conditions who had to escape from Geneina last June together with their mother, 70. His sisters Ibtihal, 45, is anaemic and Aisha, 40, has a pacemaker after she had a heart attack. Fathi looks after his sisters and is the only one around who can bring some food on the table by doing day jobs. His sisters however are not getting the treatment they need – the available medical services are very basic and nothing compared to their needs. Back in Geneina, he worked as an animal production specialist. He lost contact with his brother in Khartoum and his other sister in Gedaref.

“I want to go back as soon as possible but we can’t – it’s too risky. They are still persecuting our people,” Fathi said. “They are still arresting and beating people of our ethnic community, the Masalit. We managed to escape by pretending we were from another tribe,” he said.

To Jan’s left is Ali, 40, who worked as an electrician in Geneina.

“They tried to kill me three times, but every time I managed to convince them I wasn’t from the Masalit community,” Ali said. “We had to escape and there’s no way we can go back.”


*Names have been changed to protect identities.