The rental price of evacuation buses in Sudan has gone up for as much as P1.5 million or 30,000 US dollars each just to get out from the deadly conflict Filipinos who want to seek refuge in nearby Egypt. Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Eduardo Jose de Vega said Thursday that the price to rent a bus in Sudan is now getting "expensive" as its capital city, Khartoum, is becoming a "war zone" for military and paramilitary forces in struggle for power. Initially, rental buses only cost 450,000 pesos or 8,000 US dollars, according to Department of Migrant Workers (DMA) Secretary Toots Ople. "'Di tayo mangunguripot dyan (We won't be tight-fisted), [we will do everything] whatever it takes para makakuha ng bus," de Vega said in an interview with Teleradyo. On Wednesday night, the Philippine government raised an Alert Level 3 status (voluntary repatriation and evacuation) for Filipinos in Sudan. [The government has been struggling](https://mb.com.ph/2023/4/26/ph-scrambles-to-evacuate-filipinos-in-sudan-ambassador-unharmed-after-car-accident) to evacuate Filipinos from Sudan not only because of increasing rental prices but also due to scarcity of available buses. Nevertheless, more than 400 of the 700 registered Filipinos in Sudan were either already taken out there or are already on their way to the border in Egypt. The big bulk of the evacuees would be arriving onboard the seven buses that were newly contracted by the Philippine Embassy in Egypt. Once in Egypt, they will travel by land to the Egyptian city of Aswan before flying to the capital, Cairo, and to the Philippines. Meanwhile, Philippine Ambassador to Egypt Ezzedin Tago, who holds jurisdiction over Filipinos in Sudan, assisted the evacuees who arrived in Egypt to ensure their entry. PH Ambassador to Egypt Ezzedin Tago receives the Filipino evacuees from Sudan as they arrive in Egypt. (Photo courtesy of Ambassador Tago)

According to him, the embassy asked the Egyptian authorities to allow Filipinos entry into their country despite not having the necessary visa. "As an exemption, we asked the authorities here that had been gracious to allow visa on arrival dahil walang paraan na kumuha ng visa sa Khartoum (because there was no way for Filipinos to process their visa in Khartoum)," Tago said in an interview with Unang Balita. Filipino evacuees will be given assistance with or without the necessary visa; while those who do not have their passport or legal documents will have to wait a little longer, probably until Friday, to enter Egypt, according to the ambassador. The embassy also sent Vice Consul Bojer Capati to Sudan to assist Filipinos at the border, especially those who could not afford the processing fee for their departure. The Philippine government is hopeful that there would be another ceasefire, which was due to end on Thursday evening, as there was a reported talk of such in South Sudan.