HUNDREDS of people who have been displaced by the brutal war in Sudan gathered at the central railway station in Cairo on Monday to begin a free journey home.

The Egyptian government is funding train travel to the Sudanese capital Khartoum, which was recently recaptured by the Sudanese armed forces from their paramilitary rival the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Raging since April 2023, Sudan’s civil war has generated a humanitarian crisis. Over 40,000 people have been killed and the conflict has caused one of the world’s largest displacement emergencies.

Egypt hosts the largest number of Sudanese refugees from the war — over 1.5 million people. More than seven million have been displaced internally as the war engulfed much of the country.

The RSF took Khartoum at the start of the fighting in 2023 and held the capital until the government declared its recapture on May 20 this year.

Much of Khartoum was destroyed, including the presidential palace and the airport, and electricity and basic services have not been fully restored.

The journey from Cairo to Khartoum involves covering about 1,292 miles, include a train journey of about 12 hours to the southern Egyptian city of Aswan, where passengers change to ferries and buses to cross into Sudan.

People packed their lives in small suitcases as they as they filled the train on Monday. Some cried with “overwhelming emotions,” including sadness and joy, to be leaving Egypt and returning home, said Sudanese journalist Asem al-Taieb, who was among the passengers.

“I am happy because I am finally going back to my family and my children,” said Awatef al-Hassan, originally from the Sudanese city of Omdurman, who was returning with her daughter.