A student who helped people get vaccinated in the height of the Covid-19 pandemic is now facing deportation to the same country she was imprisoned and tortured in.
Enji Bashir fled Sudan with her sister Ann and their mother in 2020, fearing for their safety.
They arrived in the UK to claim asylum following 33 days in prison for attending anti-government protests.
But 21-year-old Enji, along with her 48-year-old mother and 16-year-old sister Ann, now face being deported back to North Africa after their asylum request was rejected by the authorities.
Enji said she was an outspoken activist during the Sudanese revolution in 2019, when she was arrested at a demonstration on August 1, 2019.
She said she spent 28 days in prison, being held and tortured in her time there.
Enji described how she was released on bail, with a range of conditions. These included reporting to an office daily, and not receiving treatment for the injuries she sustained during her time detained.
In 2022, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said around 310,000 people were displaced, 991 people killed and 1,173 injured as a result of localised conflict and violence across the country.
On February 12, 2020, Enji's family home was raided by national security forces and the Janjaweed, a Sudanese militia.
She said they were seperated, blindfolded and taken to a detention centre around half an hour away.
She said: "They interrogated us, and whenever you said 'no', they would beat Ann. She was around 13 at th.e time.
"This was terrifying. I could see them beating my sister in front of me and I couldn't do anything.
"They didn't give us food, or even drinks sometimes. We weren't allowed to leave our cell."
Enji, along with her mother and sister, were released 33 days later.
They made the decision to flee Sudan to the UK and settled in Hove.
Enji, now a pharmacy student at the University of Brighton, provided support in the Covid-19 vaccination centres at the Brighton Centre and in Churchill Square, while studying for her A-Levels.
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Enji has ambitions to be a "top" pharmacist when she grows up, inspired by her dad. She has not heard from him since they fled Sudan in 2020.
He is presumed dead or imprisoned due to his involvement in anti-government protests.
She said: "My dad is a pharmacist, and I really like how medicine works. He inspired me, and ever since I was young I knew that was what I wanted to do."
This passion for healthcare led her to volunteer with the Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
She helped out at vaccine centres at the Brighton Centre and Churchill Square, preparing people to receive their doses.
She said: "I volunteered with them for two years, helping out where I could. Everyone was really supportive of me given my circumstances.
"I remember people clapping on their doorsteps for us."
Enji was a top student in her home country, attending the Ahfad University for Women in Omdurman, where she previously lived.
She said: "When we arrived, I applied to a university over here, but I was told I need to do my A-Levels first.
"So I had an interview at Varndean and got in."
She was two years older than most students at the school, however she said they made her feel at home.
“I made lots of friends, and some of them lived through similar situations to me. I couldn’t ever leave them." she said.
Enji even made it onto the prospectus for the college, promoting its classes and courses to future students.
She is now in her first year of study for an MPharm degree at the University of Brighton, however she said this is "hard to enjoy, because of the situation" she is currently in.
Enji's sister, Ann, is now in year 11 at Cardinal Newman Catholic School in Hove, preparing for her GCSEs later this year.
The family were moved to accomodation in London, so the sisters now commute to Sussex every day.
A campaign was launched by staff and students at the school to show solidarity with them, raising awareness of their situation.
This included a vigil, where politicians gave powerful speeches, and setting up a petition which has now received over 6,000 signatures.
The Home Office refused to comment.
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