As the power struggle between the country’s army and a powerful paramilitary force rages on in Sudan, several countries are taking action to evacuate their diplomats and citizens from the country. The US and UK were among the first to announce on Sunday that they had airlifted their diplomats out of Khartoum, and were closely followed by France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and other nations.
US authorities confirmed that around 100 people had been airlifted with three Chinook helicopters in a “fast and clean” operation. The US embassy in Khartoum is now closed, and the government has advised private US citizens not to travel to Sudan. Similarly, the UK government carried out a “complex and rapid” evacuation of British diplomats and their families, with Foreign Minister James Cleverly stating that options to evacuate remaining British nationals in Sudan were “severely limited.”
Other countries also conducted evacuation operations on Sunday. French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed that a plane had arrived in Djibouti carrying French citizens and others. Germany’s army said the first of three planes had left Sudan, bound for Jordan, with 101 people on board. Italy and Spain have evacuated their citizens, and Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government had evacuated its diplomatic staff.
There have also been reports of desperate calls for help from foreign students who are stuck in Khartoum, along with reports that internet connectivity has almost totally collapsed in Sudan, which could seriously hinder the coordination of help for those trapped in Khartoum and other cities.
The violence in Sudan has resulted in hundreds of deaths and thousands more injured, with near-constant shootings and bombings in Khartoum and elsewhere. The World Health Organization reports that more than 400 people have been killed, but the actual death toll is believed to be much higher, as most of the city’s hospitals have been forced to close due to the fighting.
The UN has also warned that up to 20,000 people – mostly women and children – have fled Sudan to seek safety in Chad, across the border from Darfur. In response, the US has announced the deployment of a disaster response team to coordinate the humanitarian response for those in need both within and outside of Sudan. Samantha Power from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) said the team would work out of Kenya at first, and prioritize getting “life-saving humanitarian assistance to those who need it most.”
