North Tyneside mum who fled Sudan with son 'scared' for family caught up in conflict

A Sudanese refugee living in North Tyneside has opened up about having no choice but to flee the war-torn country.

Yossra Yahia fled Sudan with her young son in 2021.

"It's not a choice that you made like 'oh I want to be a refugee today' it's not like that. You either choose to stay there and not know when you're going to die or if your family is going to be dead infront of you, or you leave.

"I think it's a survivor's guilt, because you know what they are going through right now. And you have a safe life here, but you can't live it fully because you know you are partly here and partly there", she said.

Ms Yahia said she is "scared" for her relatives still there. Her parents and husband remain in the capital Khartoum.

She said: "They were on the floor hiding because they kept on hearing gun shots and I'm really scared for them, I don't know what's going to happen."

Ms Yahia, who used to be a biology teacher in Sudan, has been campaigning to raise awareness about the conflict in Sudan.

"I hope it ends soon, I hope things settle down."

What is happening in Sudan?

Fighting in Sudan continues to intensify as tensions between the armed forces and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), that had been brewing for weeks, spilled over into violence.

Led by Sudan's two most powerful generals, who jointly orchestrated a military coup together in 2021, the sustained fighting threatens to tip the country into civil war.

At stake is control of a resource-rich nation of more than 46 million people.

Food has grown more difficult to obtain, electricity is cut off across much of the capital and other cities, and many hospitals have shut down.

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