Britain has begun evacuating its citizens from Sudan, where 10 days of urban combat have resulted in hundreds of deaths. The evacuation came after a US-brokered 72-hour ceasefire between Sudan’s warring generals officially took effect. The British government faced pressure to act after criticism that it had abandoned British citizens trapped in the country. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the government had begun a large-scale evacuation of British passport holders from Sudan on Royal Air Force flights. Priority will be given to the most vulnerable, including families with children and the elderly.
The government says that some 4,000 Britons with dual nationality and 400 with UK-only passports are in Sudan, while 2,000 people have registered with the foreign ministry seeking help to get out. UK military planes operating from an RAF base in Cyprus were due to depart from an airfield north of Khartoum. The Sudanese airbase at Wadi Seidna has been secured by German forces, who are handling the coordination of flights sent by Britain and other countries.
The evacuation is ongoing, and the aim is to fly as many people out as possible. All UK passport holders are eligible as well as their partners, children and parents — but only if those relatives have an existing right of entry to Britain, the Foreign Office said. The government is looking at every possible option to ensure those who want to leave are able to do so.
