In response to the escalating conflict in Sudan, nations like India have been evacuating their stranded citizens for a few days now. Thousands in total have been rescued by several countries during this period. Meanwhile, the global superpower America is currently making its first attempt to evacuate hundreds of people from Khartoum.
The convoy sent by the US government, which includes US citizens, local employees, and individuals of partner and ally nations, landed in Port Sudan on Saturday, according to a statement from the US State Department.
“The US government has taken extensive efforts to contact US citizens in Sudan and enable the departure of those who wished to leave. We messaged every U.S. citizen in Sudan who communicated with us during the crisis and provided specific instructions about joining this convoy to those who were interested in departing via the land route,” the State Department said.
“Intensive negotiations by the United States with the support of our regional and international partners enabled the security conditions that have allowed the departure of thousands of foreign and U.S. citizens, including through today’s operation. We continue to call on the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to end the fighting that is endangering civilians,” the state department said.
However, the action by the State Department was initiated after the Americans stuck in the situation expressed anger over the US government for leaving them to navigate the complicated and dangerous situation on their own. The Americans said that the government was ‘useless’ and provided no proper information or guidance to the people stuck in the conflict. They ultimately felt abandoned by the US government.
Speaking to CNN, one of the Americans Imad said, “To be honest with you, the State Department was useless, utterly useless throughout this entire period. We expected the Department to provide some kind of guidance, but the guidance was the template, just shelter in place, no critical information being provided.”
The US administration had insisted that the circumstances don’t support a civilian evacuation despite a number of countries evacuating their populations. This past weekend, a military operation resulted in the evacuation of the entire US government.
Additionally, the department reiterated its advice to its citizens not to visit Sudan. As a result of battles between the army and paramilitary forces, there has been chaos in Sudan. There have been claims of violence despite the 72-hour ceasefire. Soldiers loyal to Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the commander of the Sudanese army, and Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Soldiers (RSF), have started fighting.
Reportedly, India launched Operation Kaveri on April 24 and has deployed its military aircraft and warships as part of its commitment to make sure that no Indian person is left behind in Sudan. Under Operation Kaveri, 365 Indians from the violently divided Sudan arrived in New Delhi on Saturday night.
As reported earlier, a C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the Indian Air Force carrying 392 passengers evacuated from Sudan landed in Delhi, while 362 Indians reached Bengaluru in another C-17 plane.