UK says nearly 1,900 people airlifted out of Sudan

LONDON - Britain on Saturday said it was readying its final evacuation flight for its citizens from war-torn Sudan, airlifting nearly 1,900 people out during fragile ceasefires.

But some of those fleeing

the fighting between warlords in Sudan,

now in its third week, said they had been forced by the British government’s rules to leave relatives behind.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) flights began on Tuesday from the Wadi Saeedna airfield north of the capital Khartoum, limited initially to British passport holders and immediate relatives who have British residency.

After strong criticism at home, however, the government late on Friday allowed Sudanese doctors working in Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) to join the flights.

Mr Andrew Mitchell, a minister in the Foreign Office, denied the government was abandoning anyone in Sudan, after it was accused by opposition parties of repeating the mistakes of its chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“I don’t think there’s a single Brit in Khartoum who won’t know about the evacuation and the flow of people who have been coming to the airport indicate that that is correct,” Mr Mitchell told the BBC in Nairobi.

But Mr Mitchell added: “We can’t stay there forever in such dangerous circumstances.”

About 2,000 Britons in Sudan had signed on to a Foreign Office list, and anyone eligible was given until Saturday morning to reach the airfield for processing and boarding of the final flights.

A total of 1,888 have left on 21 flights, including on the final one due to depart Wadi Saeedna later on Saturday, the Foreign Office said.

The eligibility criteria still left British nationals with family in Sudan facing the choice of coming home or staying, despite the risks, if their relatives had no right of residency in Britain.

British media reported that 20 NHS medics from Sudan were initially told they could not board the flights because they were not British nationals.

Sudanese doctor Abdulrahman Babiker, who works in a hospital in the northern English city of Manchester, was one of those refused a place at first before he was allowed to join an RAF flight to Cyprus.

Still trapped

“I am happy that I am finally in a safe place, away from a war and on my way back to the UK,” Dr Babiker told the BBC.

“At the same time, I feel down that my family – my dad, mum, brother and sister – are still endangered by this deadly fighting in my country,” he added.

“I am thinking about them now and trying to work out what I can do to help them escape the danger zone.”

The British government said it was maintaining consular support at exit routes to the north and south of Sudan, as well as at the eastern city of Port Sudan.

The airlifts began after Sudan’s warring parties agreed on an initial three-day US-brokered ceasefire, which was then formally extended, though fierce fighting has resumed.

“We continue to press all diplomatic levers to secure a long-term ceasefire and end the bloodshed in Sudan,” Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on Saturday.

Many Britons and people of other nationalities were trapped in Sudan after heading back to visit their families during Ramadan.

Thousands gathered in central London’s Trafalgar Square on Saturday to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the festival concluding the Islamic fasting month. Performers at the gathering offered prayers for Sudan.

“We know there are many Londoners whose country of origin is Sudan, and there are many Londoners who are really worried about their families and friends stuck in Sudan,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan said at the event.

“It’s really important that the Foreign Office continues to help those Brits and Londoners who are stuck in Sudan.” AFP