2023-04-24 06:26:55
Published on : Modified :
Several countries are carrying out repatriation operations for their nationals and diplomatic personnel from Sudan, where the war between the army and paramilitaries has been raging for more than a week. The violence, mainly in Khartoum and Darfur (west), has claimed more than 420 dead and 3,700 injured, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
US President Joe Biden announced late Saturday night that the military had “conducted an operation to extract US government personnel from Khartoum”.
About 100 US special operations soldiers participated in the evacuation of “just under 100” people, including several foreign diplomats, by means of a helicopter operation, according to the State Department. An evacuation of the other American nationals, who would be several hundred, is not planned “for the moment”.
A European official explained on Friday that the European Union was increasing contacts to obtain a ceasefire and evacuate some 1,500 European Union nationals in Sudan. In addition to the EU, which has a delegation in Khartoum, seven member countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece and the Czech Republic) are represented in the capital. According to the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell, more than a thousand Europeans have already been evacuated.
Two French planes landed in Djibouti on Sunday, with a total of 200 evacuees, French and foreign, according to Paris and a Djiboutian airport source. On the same day, Italy evacuated all its nationals who “had asked to leave” and “foreign citizens”, according to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “About 200 people” were affected, according to Rome.
A “handful” of Dutch nationals were evacuated on a French plane, while another group of Dutch people left Khartoum by road in a UN convoy, Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said. , who are hoping for another group to be evacuated on a Dutch plane later in the day. The minister described a “very complex operation”.
The German army announced that it had evacuated 101 people by military plane, adding that two other planes had been dispatched to participate in the evacuations.
A Spanish military plane with “a hundred passengers” on board left Sunday for Djibouti, according to Madrid. Thirty Spaniards and some 70 people of other nationalities took off.
Greece announced that it had evacuated a first group of its nationals on Sunday, including two wounded, to Djibouti, “with the assistance of France”.
Sweden sent around 150 troops to evacuate its diplomats and nationals, according to its defense ministry, while Norway announced the evacuation of its diplomats to Khartoum.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has also announced the evacuation of UK diplomatic staff and their families.
“British Armed Forces carried out a complex and rapid evacuation amid escalating violence and threats once morest embassy staff,” Rishi Sunak tweeted.
UK armed forces have completed a complex and rapid evacuation of British diplomats and their families from Sudan, amid a significant escalation in violence and threats to embassy staff.
I pay tribute to the commitment of our diplomats and bravery of the military personnel who…
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) April 23, 2023
Ireland has indicated that it has started the “evacuation process” of its nationals and their dependents.
Saudi Arabia evacuated 91 Saudis and around 60 nationals from 12 other countries on Saturday.
Jordan said on Saturday it had begun evacuating around 300 of its nationals.
Iraq for its part announced on Sunday the evacuation of 14 Iraqis from Khartoum “to a secure site in Port Sudan”, ensuring that efforts are continuing to evacuate those who remain.
The day before, Baghdad had announced that “the Iraqi diplomatic team had been evacuated” from the embassy.
Lebanon said 60 of its nationals had also left Khartoum by road and were “safe”.
The Tunisian Embassy in Khartoum announced on Sunday that the evacuation operation for members of the Tunisian community in Sudan will begin on Monday. A neighboring country to Sudan, Libya announced through its embassy in Khartoum the evacuation of 83 Libyans from the capital to Port-Sudan.
Ankara announced that it would evacuate its “nationals from conflict zones by land and through a third country”. The evacuation of some 600 nationals began on Sunday from two districts of Khartoum and Wad Madani, 200 kilometers to the south.
But the evacuation of the Kafouri district in northern Khartoum has been postponed “until further notice” because of an explosion on Sunday near a gathering place, according to the Turkish embassy in Khartoum.
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South Korea, Japan, China, Indonesia, India
Other countries are preparing to evacuate their nationals, including South Korea and Japan, by deploying forces in neighboring countries.
In Indonesia, the government “is taking all necessary measures to evacuate Indonesian citizens from Sudan”, the foreign ministry told AFP on Sunday.
India said it was working “closely with various partners to ensure the safe movement of Indians stranded in Sudan who would like to be evacuated”.
The Sudanese military also said it was coordinating efforts to evacuate Chinese diplomats.
With AFP
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