New Delhi: Saudi Arabia announced the evacuation of 157 citizens and foreigners, including Indian nationals, from Sudan, where fighting now enters its second week and there is still no sign of a working ceasefire.
India, like other countries, has been struggling to find a way to repatriate its citizens amidst the fierce clashes raging in and around Khartoum between the Sudanese Army and a paramilitary group, Rapid Support Forces. With Sudan’s transport links including its international airport closed, foreign countries had ordered their citizens to simply shelter in place until they can figure out evacuation plans.
Meanwhile, the Sudanese army chief General Abdel Fattah Burhan said that he would facilitate the evacuation of American, British, Chinese and French citizens and diplomats from Sudan after speaking with the leaders of several countries that had requested help.
In the first reported civilian rescue, a statement from the Saudi Arabian foreign ministry on Saturday night stated that naval forces carried out the evacuation of Saudi citizens, as well as nationals from “brotherly and friendly countries, including diplomats and international officials”.
“The number of citizens who were evacuated reached 91 citizens, while the number of people who were evacuated from brotherly and friendly countries reached approximately 66, representing the following nationalities (Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, India, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Canada, and Burkina Faso),” said the statement.
#Statement | In the implementation of the directives of the Kingdom’s Leadership, we are pleased to announce the safe arrival of the evacuated citizens of the Kingdom from Sudan and several nationals of brotherly & friendly countries, including diplomats & international officials pic.twitter.com/Eg0YemshYD
— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) April 22, 2023
There is no information yet from the Indian side about how many Indian nationals were evacuated by Saudi Arabia. The Indian community in Sudan is estimated to be around 3,000 people.
“The Kingdom worked to provide all the necessary needs of foreign nationals in preparation for their departure to their countries,” said the Saudi foreign ministry.
Saudi Arabia, which has considerable diplomatic leverage in Sudan, has been part of a group of four countries with the UAE, US and UK, that had been negotiating a return to civilian rule with the two warring Sudanese generals. That transition plan fell apart completely with the outbreak of violence on April 14.
According to Arab News, Saudi naval forces carried out the first announce evacuation on two boats that arrived in Jeddah on Saturday.
Two boats carrying Saudi citizens and other nationals rescued from battle-scarred Sudan arrived Saturday in Jeddah, Saudi state television said, in the first announced evacuation of civilians since fighting there began.
According to the Saudi broadcaster Al-Ekhbariyah television, a convoy of vehicles transported the evacuees from Port Sudan to the ships bound for Jeddah.
Among those who arrived in Jeddah were the crew members of a Saudi passenger plane that had been struck by gunfire while preparing for takeoff in Khartoum during the fighting on April 15, as per Saudi state TV.
Al-Ekhbariyah shared footage of large ships entering Jeddah’s port and also published a video depicting women and children carrying Saudi flags on one of the vessels, Arab News reported.
Upon their arrival aboard the His Majesty King Jubail ship at the King Faisal Naval Base in Jeddah’s Western Fleet, Saudi Arabia’s deputy foreign minister Waleed Al-Khuraiji received the first group of citizens and foreign nationals.
On Sunday, the US military evacuated US Embassy personnel from Sudan. “Today, on my orders, the United States military conducted an operation to extract US Government personnel from Khartoum,” President Joe Biden said. He thanked authorities in Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia for their assistance in the evacuation mission.