UK evacuates 897 people from Sudan as ceasefire set to expire

Sudan unrest
British nationals onboard an RAF flight leaving Khartoum
PA

The Foreign Office has said 897 people have been evacuated from Sudan on eight UK flights as of 4pm on Thursday, with further flights expected.

The latest update comes as a ceasefire in the violence-hit African country is due to expire at mdnight on Thursday.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday confirmed that Giles Lever, the UK ambassador to Sudan, had been relocated to neighbouring Ethiopia after it temporarily closed its embassy in the country.

“From Addis Ababa, he will lead the UK's diplomatic efforts in the region to bring fighting to an end in Sudan,” the British foreign office said in a statement.

Downing Street said that Mr Lever is continuing to speak to warring parties in Sudan and lobbying for an extension to the ceasefire.

More than 2,000 British nationals in Sudan have registered under the evacuation plans but the true number of citizens there could be far higher.

Two evacuation flights landed in Cyprus on Thursday with further flights expected to take place in the evening, Downing Street said. It followed a total of six flights on the previous day.

Only British passport holders and their immediate family who have existing clearance to enter the UK are currently authorised for evacuation.

Relatives of UK citizens spoke of their relief after their loved ones touched down on UK soil.

Sara Abdanna said she had to wait for her 13-year-old son, Ahmed Mohammed, to make his way back to the UK after he visited family members in Sudan.

Ms Abdanna, 42, a mother of two, said: “I have all my family over there, my parents, my sister, my brothers, all of them. I just hope this situation gets better for them and this all stops.”

Sudan unrest
British nationals arrive at the Radisson Blue hotel at Stansted Airport
PA

She continued: “I’m so glad and so happy to see him. I’m so grateful for the British Government. From the beginning we got the right support for him.

“They contacted him and managed to bring him home safe. I wish, if they can, to force the military to stop fighting.”

The war in Sudan is being fought between the Sudanese army commanded by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary forces led by his rival General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.

The fighting erupted in mid-April and has so far led to the deaths of more than 500 people, while turning residential areas into war zones.

Sudan unrest
Hafiz Sinada, greets his children as they arrive off a coach
PA

Military chiefs say they have the capacity to lift at least 500 people per day out of the Wadi Saeedna airfield near the capital of Khartoum.

But Foreign Secretary James Cleverly warned that the resumption of fighting could jeopardise evactuation efforts.

“We cannot predict exactly what will happen when that ceasefire ends, but what we do know is it will be much, much harder, potentially impossible,” he told Sky News.

“So, what we’re saying to British nationals is if you’re hesitant, if you’re weighing up your options, our strong, strong advice is to go through Wadi Saeedna whilst the ceasefire is up and running.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in