After escalation in Sudan: more than 1000 EU citizens evacuated

The evacuation campaigns in Sudan continue: According to the EU foreign policy chief Borrell, more than 1,000 EU citizens have already been flown out. The Bundeswehr brought 311 people to safety.

According to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, more than 1,000 foreigners have been brought to safety since the start of the evacuation campaign in Sudan. “It has been a complex operation and it has been a successful operation,” Borrell said. 21 diplomats from the EU representation in Khartoum were among the evacuees. Borrell especially thanked France for helping “our people” fly out. “And I want to thank the combined efforts of many countries who took their nationals with them, but also any nationals they could collect,” added the EU foreign policy chief.

“There is no military solution to this war”

Regarding the current developments in the country, Borrell said that the ceasefire is now over and that a political solution must continue to be pushed for. “We cannot afford for a populous country like Sudan to collapse because it would send shock waves across Africa,” he said. The message to the parties to the conflict is that they must “stop the war, silence the guns, start talking and look for a political solution”. “Because there is no military solution to this war.”

Borrell also confirmed that EU ambassador Aidan O’Hara stayed in Sudan but is no longer in the capital, Khartoum. “He had to stay there. The captain is the last to leave the ship,” Borrell said.

So far, the Bundeswehr has flown out 311 people

The Bundeswehr is also involved: According to the Federal Foreign Office, the first military plane with evacuees landed in Berlin in the morning. 101 Germans, their families and members of other partner countries were on board. Further evacuation flights are planned as long as the security situation allows, the Foreign Office said.

A second transporter with 113 evacuees has meanwhile arrived safely at a stopover in Jordan. A third German military plane with evacuees from Sudan has also landed in Jordan, the Bundeswehr said. A total of 311 people have been flown out so far. According to a preliminary list available to the dpa news agency, 42 Dutch and more than 15 Austrians were among the evacuees. In addition, a single-digit number of nationals from Australia, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Belgium, Norway, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Sweden and Portugal were flown out. More than half of the evacuees are German citizens.

The Bundeswehr Operations Command was satisfied with the operation and said the evacuations “worked well”. The onward journey of the evacuated citizens of other nations will now be coordinated with the states concerned.

The United States and several European countries had already started to bring their nationals out of Sudan because of the increasingly tense situation. France has now reported 388 rescued people and wants to continue the mission. Sweden also flew the first embassy employees and their families to neighboring Djibouti, but did not give any exact figures. A Dutch plane also brought people of different nationalities to Jordan. China said it would evacuate embassy staff.

criticism of the British government

After the evacuation of British diplomats from Sudan, the government in London has been criticized. Several British citizens complained in the media that they felt left alone. The chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Parliament, Alicia Kearns, told BBC Radio 4 that more than 1,000 Britons probably wanted to be brought to safety. “These are sometimes big families. I suspect that there are 3,000, 4,000 or more people,” said the conservative politician.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had previously announced that the British military had evacuated British diplomats and their families. Secretary of State Andrew Mitchell defended the operation. Rescuing embassy staff was a priority because there had been a “very specific threat against the diplomatic community” in the capital, Khartoum, Mitchell told Sky News. He assured that the government is doing what it can. Before a ceasefire, however, there is little chance of help, also because the airfields are fought over. “The situation is absolutely desperate and a ceasefire is needed. And the only advice Britain can give people is to stay indoors because that’s the safe option,” said the Conservative politician.

Asselborn: Don’t forget the people in Sudan

Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn warned not to forget the local population. What is happening in the country is a major catastrophe, he said before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg. “Let’s also think of the people who cannot be evacuated, who live in Sudan.” At the same time, the Luxembourg Foreign Minister welcomed the fact that EU citizens were flown out of the embattled Sudan. He hopes that cooperation between the EU states will work in such a way that every EU citizen can be brought to safety.

According to the AP news agency, locals are trying to flee the ongoing fighting by land as western countries fly out their diplomatic personnel. At the Arkin crossing on the Egyptian border, around 30 buses, each with at least 55 people, were jammed.

Heavy fighting broke out in Sudan more than a week ago between the country’s two most powerful generals and their units. The two men have led the country in northeast Africa with around 46 million inhabitants since a joint military coup in 2021.

De facto President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is also the Army Commander-in-Chief, is fighting with the military against his deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, the leader of the powerful paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Actually, the RSF should have subordinated itself to the army and power in the country should have been transferred back to a civilian government. However, since both camps were ultimately unable to reach an agreement, the conflict turned violent.