On 22nd April 2023, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it will evacuate its own citizens as well as citizens of friendly countries from the Republic of Sudan. The evacuation started within hours of the announcements and the evacuated people are being taken to Jeddah on ships. 157 people, including an unspecified number of Indians, have already been evacuated. Sudan has been witnessing deadly fighting between the country’s army and a paramilitary group for the last seven days.
The evacuation of civilians was carried out by Saudi Arabia’s naval forces with the support of other branches of the army, the foreign ministry said.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed on Twitter that people evacuated from Sudan safely reached Jeddah. In the first batch that arrived in three ships, a total of 91 Saudi citizens, along with 66 nationals of other countries, including Indians. “In the implementation of the directives of the Kingdoms Leadership, we are pleased to announce the safe arrival of the citizens of the Kingdom who were evacuated from the Republic of Sudan as well as several nationals of brotherly and friendly countries, including diplomats and international officials, who arrived in an evacuation operation carried out by the Royal Saudi Naval Forces with the support of various branches of the armed forces,” the Saudi foreign ministry said.
The ministry informed that 66 citizens of Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, India, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Canada, and Burkina Faso were evacuated along with Saudi nationals from Sudan. However, country-wise break up of evacuated citizens has not been disclosed so far. The evacuated people included diplomats and international officials. “The Kingdom worked to provide all the necessary needs of foreign nationals in preparation for their departure to their countries,” they added.
Earlier the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs had tweeted, “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announces the start of the arrangement for the evacuation of Saudi citizens and several nationals of brotherly and friendly countries from the Republic of Sudan to the Kingdom.”
The decision was made “in the implementation of the directives” of King Salman of Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “to oversee the care and wellbeing of Kingdom citizens in the Republic of Sudan,” the foreign ministry said.
Saudi nationals and others evacuated from Sudan arrived by sea in the port city of Jeddah in the first announced evacuation since fighting broke out. Saudi state television Al-Ekhbariyah said, “The first evacuation vessel from Sudan has arrived, carrying 50 [Saudi] citizens and a number of nationals from friendly countries.”
Al-Ekhbariyah posted a video of people who were evacuated from Sudan welcomed at Red Sea port in Jeddah after they deboarded the ship. The evacuees were received by officials and soldiers who distributed sweets on the occasion of Eid. Before that, the evacuees were taken by a convoy of vehicles to Port Sudan, where they boarded the ships.
Later they posted the video of the third evacuated ship from Sudan.
The top officer of the Sudanese army Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is Sudan’s de facto leader, promised that his men would help evacuate diplomats and citizens of the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and France.
While Saudi Arabia has started evacuating people from Sudan, including citizens of other friendly nations, USA has said that it is unable to evacuate people now. According to the American Embassy, it was “not currently safe to undertake a U.S. government-coordinated evacuation of private U.S. citizens.”
In a tweet, the US embassy in Khartoum posted, “The U.S. Embassy in Khartoum continues to closely monitor the situation in Khartoum and surrounding areas, where there is ongoing fighting, gunfire, and security forces activity. There have also been reports of assaults, home invasions, and looting. U.S. citizens are strongly advised to remain indoors, shelter in place until further notice, and avoid travel to the U.S. embassy. The U.S. embassy remains under a shelter-in-place order and cannot provide emergency consular services.”
The US embassy further said, “Due to the uncertain security situation in Khartoum and the closure of the airport, it is not currently safe to undertake a U.S. government-coordinated evacuation of private U.S. citizens. There is incomplete information about significant convoys departing Khartoum and travelling towards Port Sudan. The embassy is unable to assist convoys. Travelling in any convoy is at your own risk.”
A spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry stated that she was unable to confirm the departure of any diplomats or citizens of France. An official from the British Foreign Ministry made an identical remark.
The armed conflict between two groups in Sudan for control over the third-largest country in Africa started on April 15. The ensuing clashes have resulted in at least 3,500 injuries and 400 fatalities. They include 256 civilians killed and 1454 civilians injured.
There are 3000 Indians in Sudan. PM Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on Friday 21st April 2023 to review the security situation in Sudan. He told officials to prepare “contingency evacuation plans, accounting for the rapidly shifting security landscape and the viability of various options”.
The Prime Minister expressed his condolences on the passing away of an Indian national who tragically fell victim to a stray bullet last week. The Prime Minister also emphasized the importance of maintaining close communication with neighbouring countries in the region, as well as those with significant numbers of citizens in Sudan.
