- Trapped Nigerian students yet to take off to Cairo
Britain said on Tuesday that it had launched “a large-scale evacuation” of its citizens trapped in Sudan, where 10 days of urban combat have led to hundreds of deaths.
It comes hours after a United States-brokered 72-hour ceasefire between Sudan’s warring generals officially came into effect, and following criticism in the United Kingdom that the government had abandoned British citizens there.
Britain faced pressure to act after comparisons to the chaotic evacuation of Britons after Afghanistan’s Taliban took control of Kabul in 2021.
“The government has begun a large-scale evacuation of British passport holders from Sudan on RAF (Royal Air Force) flights,” Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said.
He added that “Priority will be given to the most vulnerable, including families with children and the elderly.”
Sunak paid tribute to Britain’s armed forces, diplomats and others involved in what he called a “complex operation.”
“The UK will continue to work to end the bloodshed in Sudan and support a democratic government,” he added.
Britain carried out a military operation Sunday to withdraw its diplomats as deadly battles raged in the capital Khartoum.
But citing the dangers on the ground, it had held off on extracting its citizens more widely despite Western allies evacuating hundreds of their own passport holders.
Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell said on Monday that some 4,000 Britons with dual nationality and 400 with UK-only passports were in Sudan, while 2,000 people had registered with the ministry seeking help to get out.
A Foreign Office statement announcing the new evacuations said the UK military flights were due to depart from an airfield outside Khartoum.
It said UK citizens should “not make their way to the airfield unless they are called”.
“The situation remains volatile and our ability to conduct evacuations could change at short notice,” it added.
Meanwhile, it has been learnt that trapped Nigerians students are still in Khartoum, Sudan.
However, it was gathered that 40 buses were already on ground to convey the students from Khartoum to Cairo.
Foreign countries rushed to evacuate their nationals from Sudan as deadly fighting raged into a second week between forces loyal to two rival generals.
Foreigners also fled the capital Khartoum in a long-United Nations convoy, while millions of frightened residents hunkered down inside their homes, many running low on water and food.
Across the city of five million, army and paramilitary troops have fought ferocious street battles since April 15, leaving behind charred tanks, gutted buildings and looted shops.
More than 420 people have been killed and thousands wounded, according to UN figures, amid fears of wider turmoil and a humanitarian disaster in one of the world’s poorest nations.
The Federal Government said it was making preparations to evacuate about 5,500 stranded Nigerians out of Sudan through the Egyptian town of Luxor, adding that it was seeking Egypt’s support so that the stranded Nigerians could be moved to Luxor.
However, in a letter dated 23 April 2023, signed by the Charge D’ Affairs, Haruna Garko, on Monday, the Embassy of Nigeria, Sudan made a request for buses to convey students from Khartoum to Cairo on Tuesday at 6 am.
The letter read “I am directed to request the services of your 200 seater buses to convey 3500 Nigerian students from Khartoum to Cairo Egypt on 25 April 2023, at 6 am in the morning.”
AFP
