This myth grabbed a lot of people. In fact, it has become an article of faith among those now living in the camp. Along the way, they somehow created a community, a village, of people from southern Sudan, right smack in the middle of the traffic.
On Christmas Day, men stood at the two entrances to the camp, checking identification cards as people entered to attend a makeshift Mass. Hundreds of people sat in front of a blanket woven with a picture of Mary and Jesus. They sang and danced, oblivious to traffic as it whizzed by. They shared tea and orange slices and pieces of cookies, too.
"I am happy celebrating Christmas among my brothers and sisters," said William Ashwell, 29, who said he fled a village in southern Sudan called Aweel five years ago.
Egypt is home to about 2 million to 3 million Sudanese, many of whom have fled the civil war that has ravaged their country, the UN refugee agency said.
Under the agency's detailed procedures and the standards of international law, coming from a war-torn country is not enough to guarantee someone refugee status. But even those who are recognized as refugees are not guaranteed relocation to the nation of their dreams. Some of the people in the park do have refugee status but were relocated to Egypt.
Last year, when the UNHCR realized that all of the Sudanese applying for refugee status and relocation abroad were from the south of Sudan, Mohsen said, it stopped processing requests.
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