80 Indians, including Puneites, stranded in Sudan to head home today

India has so far evacuated nearly 2000 of its citizens under Operation Kaveri in buses from Sudan’s capital city of Khartoum and other troubled areas to Port Sudan. They are being taken to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia in Indian Air Force’s heavy-lift transport aircraft and Indian Navy’s ships.

Charles Mendes, a Mumbai resident who has been working in Rabak for the last two years, is one of the 170 people from Maharashtra working with a sugar factory, Kenana Sugar Company. While speaking to The Indian Express over a WhatsApp call, Mendes, a supervisor at the factory, said, “From the Pune district, there must be 60 workers. And from across the country, there are 450 Indians working with the same factory.”

“We just held a meeting here where representatives of the company management, Embassy officials and travel agency were present. At least 60 workers whose contract has ended and 20 of those who are living here with their families have been told that they will be part of the first batch leaving for Sudan port today,” said Mendes.

According to Mendes, the workers have been told one batch of Indians would be leaving from Rabak every couple of days. “The Sudan port is 1100 km away from where we are stationed. It takes hours to travel to that destination. We have been told that we will be taken to Saudi Arabia by an Indian Navy ship and from there, we will be taken to India by a flight,” he added.

Mendes said workers have been living under fear about a possible attack as the fighting intensifies. “Though we have been told that the fighting is going on some 400 km away, we fear that we may also be attacked in the coming days. We have been told to stay put in our complex which is spread over a five-kilometre area,” he said.

The workers have also been getting frantic calls from relatives in India. “We have been repeatedly inundated by calls from our families. As a result, there is anxiety and constant fear in our minds. The Indian Government should make all-out efforts to evacuate all the Indians from this troubled land,” he said.

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Pune District Disaster Management Cell officials said they have not received any information about the stranded individuals from the district from authorities coordinating the evacuation of Indians stranded in Sudan. “Families of the stranded individuals have not contacted us yet. The operations are being coordinated by the State Disaster Management Authority which is based in Mumbai,” said an official.