CAIRO – A South Sudanese father living in Egypt says he is struggling to care for his two young children after his wife was detained and deported by immigration authorities, leaving him alone with a six-month-old baby.
The man, identified only as Marko, says the incident happened after his wife briefly left their home to buy essential food items for the children.
“I went for work, and Madam was at home. That day, I didn’t buy powdered milk, so I told her to go and buy milk later,” he explained in a video obtained by Sudans Post.
According to Marko, his wife left the children inside the house and went to a nearby shop, but was intercepted by immigration officers before she could return.
“As she was about to take the stairs up, she met with the government (immigration officers). That is how she was detained,” he said.
The incident comes amid intensified enforcement actions in Egypt targeting undocumented foreign nationals, with increased checks and arrests of people without valid residency documents.
Children left alone in the house
Marko said the couple’s two children were left alone and began crying, prompting their landlady to check on them.
“She called me and asked about Madam. I told her she is up. She said, ” Madam is not there because your children are crying,” he said.
Sensing something was wrong, Marko asked the landlady to break into the house after repeated knocks went unanswered.
“I told her to break the door because I was afraid something might have happened to their mother,” he said.
The landlady reportedly found the children alone and later informed Marko that authorities had detained his wife.
The children were later taken to a police station, where officers instructed the landlady to keep them until their father could arrive.
“She informed them that their father is not at home, and police told her, ‘that’s not our business, take the children with you,’” Marko recounted.
Embassy visits and unanswered pleas
Marko says he repeatedly sought assistance from the South Sudan Embassy in Egypt, visiting the mission several times.
“I went there almost ten times until I met the deputy consul. I informed him, and he told me they will look into it and get back to me,” he said.
However, he says no concrete assistance was provided before his wife was deported.
“The same day the deportation was about to take place, I went to him and told him my wife is about to be deported,” he said. “I asked what I do because I am left with a baby, and he cannot walk. He is just six months old.”
“He told me they will call you. Up to date, no call,” he added.
The case involves the South Sudan Embassy in Egypt, which has not yet publicly commented on the matter.
Struggling to care for his children alone
Marko says he now hopes to receive assistance to return to South Sudan with his children, saying he is unable to balance work and childcare on his own.
“I hope to be supported with two tickets so that I can take my children and go back to South Sudan because there is no other option,” he said.
He added that even basic daily survival has become difficult, forcing him to rely on his landlady at times when he goes out to work.
“I can’t work or feed them because nobody can take care of them when I am not around,” he said. “Sometimes, I leave the children with my Egyptian landlady to go hustle for a day to buy them milk and pampers.”
Marko says his greatest concern remains the well-being of his children, particularly the youngest, who is still an infant.
“All I am talking about is the issue of the children. For a man to stay with young kids like this alone is difficult,” he said. “A child is comfortable when a mother is there.”
The incident mirrors one of the many in recent days where South Sudanese nationals have fallen victim to a nationwide crackdown targeting illegal foreigners in Egypt, including South Sudanese students. The South Sudan Embassy in Juba did not immediately comment on Marko’s incident.
