MANILA, Philippines – It was a normal Eid al-Fitr celebration for Filipino student Norhad Ananaid Langiles, who spent one morning in a friend’s house in Sudanese capital Khartoum with six others to pray the Ṣalāt al-Fajr, eat, and enjoy each other’s company.

They were confident that this Eid would be peaceful, and put out a fish to grill. But at around 10 am on April 24, they heard the firing of bullets just outside the house.

“Six hours, nakadapa lang kami. Parang umuulan na ‘yung bala sa bubong ng bahay namin. Ang kagandahan lang, ‘yung bubong ng bahay namin…makapal ‘yung semento, hindi tumatagos ‘yung mga bala sa bubong. At ‘yung bakbakan talaga, diyan lang sa likod lang ng bahay namin, naghahabulan sila. Tapos wala kaming narinig na maliliit na tunog ng baril, lahat malalaki,” said Langiles in a call with Rappler on Saturday, April 29.

(For six hours, we were on the floor. It was like bullets were raining down on the roof of our house. The good thing about our roof is that the cement was thick, and the bullets could not penetrate it. The firefight was just behind our house – they were chasing each other. And we could not hear any small guns, only big ones.)

After the group learned on social media that the warring factions in Sudan agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire, they decided on their own to leave the house and find a safe place to gather. Langiles, who led a student union, called as many students as he could to tell them to gather at a university.

The Filipinos had almost no time to pack anything before they left the house.

“Hindi nga naihaw ‘yung isda, hindi naluto. Hanggang ngayon, iniwan namin ‘yung isda doon. Ewan ko, pusa lang ‘yung kumain nun, [dahil] sa sobrang taranta namin,” said Langiles. (We weren’t even able to grill the fish. Until now, that fish is probably still there, perhaps a cat has eaten it, because we were in such panic.)

Langiles and his group are safe in their Cairo hotel as of Saturday. It was his first time to experience listening to a firefight happening so close to him.

“It was my first time, which is why I was so scared…. I am from Davao, where it is so peaceful. It was my first time, and that’s why I still feel some trauma,” he said in Filipino.

In the Sudan clashes, at least 512 people have been reported killed, and close to 4,200 were wounded, according to the United Nations, which believes the real toll is much higher. The Sudan Doctors Union said at least 387 civilians had been killed.

Heading to the border

Langiles’ initial group encountered Sudanese soldiers along the way as they escaped the house in Khartoum, but they were “kind” and let them pass.

“Doon sa Sudan, ‘pag ikaw ay estudyante, foreigner, hindi ka nila sinasaktan, hindi ka inaano kasi nirerespeto ka nila. Ang delikado lang doon kung nagkataon na nandiyan ka, tumawid ka, tapos nagkasalubungan lang sila at nagkabarilan,” he said.

(In Sudan, if you are a student or a foreigner, they do not hurt you because they respect you. The dangerous part is if you just happen to be there, crossing the road, and you get caught in the crossfire.)

Once the students had gathered in the meeting place they decided on, Langiles reached out to the Philippine embassy to try to evacuate the group of over 100 students. After what Langiles described as some lapses in coordination among Philippine officials on whom should leave first – students or workers or a mix of both – the students were able to leave on the bus they requested. Another bus would come to pick up the overseas Filipino workers.

It was a 12-hour journey from Khartoum to the Argeen border of Sudan and Egypt. While a Philippine embassy representative got in contact with their group, the representative was at the Wadi Halfa border crossing point, which was four hours away.

But even with the representative there, Langiles said the Egyptian border guards said they would only allow them to cross with the presence of the Philippine ambassador to Egypt. During ambassador Ezzedin Tago’s trip to the border from Cairo, he and Vice Consul Bojer Capati figured in a car accident. They survived the incident and were unharmed.

No proper food, water, rest

Langiles and the other Filipinos were just some of the thousands who had fled to Sudan’s borders to escape the clashes. He said their living conditions at the border were poor while waiting for more help and for Tago to arrive.

“Wala talaga kaming matulugan. ‘Yung kasama namin matulog, ‘yung mga basura doon. Tapos ‘yung iniinom namin na tubig, maitim ‘yung kulay. Pinagtiyagaan na lang namin kasi sobrang uhaw, mainit doon. Tapos maalikabok. Tapos ‘yun nga, walang pagkain. Binigyan lang kami ng tinapay na ‘yung parang tinapay na ;yung 10 araw na, na parang may molds-molds na,” said Langiles.

(We had no place to sleep. We slept next to the garbage there. And the water we drank had a dark color. We just drank it to survive because we were so thirsty, and it was hot and dusty. And there was barely any food. We were given bread that seemed 10 days old because they had molds on them.)

The food, he said, was given by Sudanese people who were also at the border. They also ate the same kind of food.

After staying at the border for two days and two nights, Langiles said the ambassador finally came and explained that they figured in an accident.

“Nakita ko naman ‘yung pagsusumikap ng ating embassy…. Talagang ginawa nila ang lahat (I saw the embassy’s efforts…. They really did all they could),” he said.

Langiles said that Tago had promised him that the officials would not leave the border for as long as Filipinos who needed help were still in Sudan.

According to Malacañang, Tago welcomed 340 Filipinos from Khartoum at the Argeen border on Saturday morning after they were cleared by Egyptian authorities to enter. The delays were attributed to the influx of evacuees.

Going home

As of Saturday, the Department of Foreign Affairs reported that some 496 Filipinos had fled Khartoum. The Philippine government announced its plans to repatriate 340 Filipinos.

Eight from Khartoum had arrived in Greece on a military aircraft, and were received by Philippine Ambassador to Greece and Cyprus Giovanni Palec.

Meanwhile, 58 Filipinos were in Port Sudan awaiting a ship that would bring them to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Consul General Edgar Tomas Auxilian has already received 16 Filipinos.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that the government was hoping that the 72-hour ceasefire would hold.

“So we’re watching this situation very, very closely, and to see if there’s a window of opportunity where we can evacuate our Philippine nationals,” Marcos said in a mix of English and Filipino. – with a report from Reuters/Rappler.com