UK Ends Evacuation From Sudan

Evacuation of British Nationals onto an awaiting RAF aircraft at Wadi Seidna Air Base in Khartoum, Sudan, on April 27, 2023. Ministry of Defence/handout via PA

British nationals in Sudan were given until midday on Saturday to arrive at the airfield near Khartoum to board the last evacuation flight from the war-torn country.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said it’s wrapping up the campaign because of declining demand for seats and the risk of renewed conflict.

British diplomats and their families left Sudan by April 23 after the Sudanese Armed Forces agreed to facilitate the evacuation of UK, U.S., French, and Chinese nationals.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) took over the Wadi Saeedna airfield from the Germans on Tuesday to begin airlifting other British nationals and their immediate families who wished to leave and were able to get to the airfield. The evacuees were first flown to Cyprus and then to the UK.

Some 2,000 UK citizens had registered with the British Embassy for evacuation on Tuesday, although more British nationals could be living in Sudan.

According to the FCDO, by Friday, 1,573 have been flown out of the country.

Asked if those who can’t make it on time would essentially be “abandoned,” Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden told Sky News that the UK would “maintain consular support in Sudan, particularly at the exit route. So both to the north, to south, and particularly Port Sudan itself.”

The FCDO on Thursday said British ambassador to Sudan Giles Lever has been relocated to neighbouring Ethiopia to “lead the UK’s diplomatic efforts in the region to bring fighting to an end in Sudan.”

Evacuation of British Nationals onto an awaiting RAF aircraft at Wadi Seidna Air Base in Khartoum, Sudan, on April 27, 2023. Ministry of Defence/handout via PA

The UK government has reportedly broadened the eligibility criteria for evacuation to include Sudanese NHS doctors after being pressured to allow British residents on the flights.

Abdulrahman Babiker, a Sudanese doctor who works at the Manchester Royal Infirmary, told the BBC that he had initially been turned away by offices on Thursday despite having a UK work permit. He was later allowed to board a flight to Cyprus and would be travelling to the UK on Saturday.

There is no official confirmation on the policy change, but the BBC said it has seen a text circulated by the Department of Health and Social Care telling NHS doctors to bring their work permits and dependents to the airfield.

The Epoch Times has contacted the FCDO to ask whether British residents and their families were allowed to evacuate with the RAF.

No Plan for Resettlement Scheme

Asked whether the UK was “looking at safe routes for refugees from Sudan,” Home Secretary Suella Braveman said on Wednesday that there was no plan to do so.

Downing Street also confirmed on Thursday there were no current plans to create a specific resettlement scheme for anyone fleeing Sudan, but it was something the government keeps under review.

During the foreign evacuation from Afghanistan in 2021 after the Taliban quickly took over the country following the withdrawal of U.S. troops, the UK government set up a resettlement scheme for Afghan refugees in addition to a previous resettlement scheme designed exclusively for Afghan staff who worked for the UK including at the British embassy.

By February 2023, the Home Office has granted indefinite leave to remain to 12,527 people under the two schemes, according to preliminary official statistics.

The Home Office said 8,565 of them had moved into a home, with a further 590 people about to move into a home, while 9,483 people remained in hotels or serviced accommodation.

More Than 500 Killed

The conflict in Sudan, which broke out on April 15 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has disabled an internationally backed transition toward democratic elections.

The fighting has also reawakened a two-decade-old conflict in the western Darfur region where scores have died this week.

A man walks near a damaged car and buildings at the central market during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan on April 27, 2023. Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters

It’s believed to have killed at least 512 and injured some 4,200 people, according to the United Nations, which believes the real toll is much higher. The Sudan Doctors Union said at least 387 civilians had been killed. The casualties included U.S. citizens.

Despite a 72-hour ceasefire announced earlier in the week, witnesses continued to see strikes by air, tanks, and artillery.

In the Khartoum area, heavy gunfire and detonations rattled residential neighbourhoods. Plumes of smoke rose above Bahri.

“We hear the sounds of planes and explosions. We don’t know when this hell will end,” said Bahri resident Mahasin al-Awad, 65. “We’re in a constant state of fear.”

The army has been deploying jets or drones on RSF forces in neighbourhoods across the capital. Many residents are pinned down by urban warfare with scant food, fuel, water, and power.

The RSF accused the army of violating an internationally brokered ceasefire with air strikes on its bases in Omdurman, Khartoum’s sister city at the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers, and Mount Awliya.

The army blamed the RSF for violations.

The ceasefire is supposed to last until Sunday at midnight.

Reuters contributed to this report.