Egyptian authorities have defended their decision tightening visa rules for Sudanese crossing into the country.
The new policy requires all Sudanese to obtain a visa before they can cross the border. This reverses an initial policy that allowed women, children and elderly men to get visa on arrival.
The new rules have raised concerns over the plight of vulnerable people fleeing the ongoing deadly conflict in Sudan.
But the Egyptian foreign ministry said that the new requirements were not designed to "prevent or limit" the entry of Sudanese nationals.
The tightening of the requirements is meant to stop "illegal activities by individuals and groups on the Sudanese side of the border, who forged entry visas" for profit, the foreign ministry said in a statement late on Saturday.
"Egypt has welcomed more than 200,000 Sudanese citizens since the start of the crisis... adding to the approximately five million Sudanese citizens who were already present," it added.
Electronic devices
Most of the Sudanese fleeing the conflict enter Egypt through land borders. The Egyptian authorities had exempted Sudanese women of all ages, children under 16 and anyone over 50 from having to obtain a visa prior to arrival at a point of entry.
Sudanese media and some social media users have reported over the past two days orders issued by Egyptian authorities at two border crossings with Sudan, according to which "entry into Egypt is allowed only after obtaining a visa, for all age groups and genders."
Justifying the new regulations, Egypt said it wants to crackdown on "illegal activities" including the issuance of fraudulent visas, foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said.
Egypt's foreign ministry stressed in its statement that its consulates in Sudan have been provided with "the necessary electronic devices to carry out these regulations in a precise, rapid and safe manner, ensuring the orderly entry of Sudanese citizens."
Fighting resumes
Meanwhile, clashes and artillery fire were reported in parts of Sudan's capital, Khartoum, on Sunday morning soon after the end of a 24-hour ceasefire that had brought a brief lull in eight weeks of fighting between rival military factions.
Witnesses said fighting resumed soon after the ceasefire expired at 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) in the north of Omdurman, one of three adjoining cities, along with Khartoum and Bahri, that make up the capital around the confluence of the River Nile.
Residents said there had been artillery fire in the Sharq el-Nil are a on the eastern outskirts of the capital, while blasts and clashes were reported in Khartoum.
War between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out on April 15 over tensions relating to an internationally backed plan for a transition towards civilian rule.
Upwards of 1,800 people have been killed in the fighting, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. Aid agencies and international organisations say the actual toll may be much higher.
The United Nations' International Organisation for Migration said nearly two million Sudanese people have been displaced, including 476,000 who have sought refuge in neighbouring countries.
