Conflict and political unrest in Africahas forced thousands of people to flee their homelandsin the hope of finding better lives.Many Sudanese and their familieshave sought refuge across the border in Egypt.But the large number of refugeesis placing a strain on Egypt's resources.El Hadi Osman is a refugee from Khartoum,the Sudanese capital.He told VOA that he left Sudan for religious reasons.He worked as a writer and reporteruntil Sudanese police targeted him for becoming a Christian.El Hadi said that police told himto stop going to religious servicesand reject Christianity, but he refused."When they jailed me, they beat meand hung me upside down in prison," he added.El Hadi said that he fled to Cairo in 2014after spending weeks in a Sudanese jail.When he arrived, he spent weeks sleeping on a walkwayin a poor neighborhood.Now, he seeks help from refugee agenciesto find work in order to survive.Sudanese refugees in Egypt, like El Hadi,keep a watchful eye on events back in Sudan.Many dream of returning homeif the current leadership there changes.Santo Makoi is a political refugee from South Sudan.He studied fine arts at Khartoum University in Sudan's northbefore the south became independent in 2011.He worked for a European non-governmental organizationcalled War Child, where he taught refugee children how to paint.Santo is registered as a refugee with the United Nations,but continues to create artat a studio created by an Egyptian aid group.Nour Khalil is a lawyer and represents immigrants living in Egypt.Khalil says the refugee crisis thereis even worse than official reports suggest.Tens of thousands of Syrians, Yemenis, Ethiopians, Eritreansand Libyans have left their countriesbecause of the many conflicts in the area.Many of these individuals are not officially registeredwith the U.N. refugee agency, the UNHCR.At a recent gathering of heads of state and governmentfrom Europe and Africa, Egypt's president saidthat his country is heavily burdenedby the millions of refugees living there.President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi addedthat Egypt has "prevented boat-loads of refugeesfrom leaving its territory for Europe since 2016."The UNHCR says Egypt has given refugeesprotection, health care, schooling, as well as the right to work.A UNHCR spokesperson told VOAthat the United Nations "makes sure that they have accessto basic services and are also supportedand protected in the best way we can."But she added that the current resistance to refugeesin many countries is delaying the work of her organization.She noted that "only 55,000 refugees out of millionswere resettled in other countries last year."For now, the life of a refugee in Egypt has become a struggle.Many refugees choose to go on to Libyaand, from there, try to reach Europe by boat.Many others have also found themselves detained in a Libyan jailunder what have been described as inhuman conditions.