Sudan war: government says evacuation effort from warzone 'extremely successful', but UK mission not over yet

Rishi Sunak authorised the evacuation of British nationals late last night, Downing Street has said.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister made the decision late last night. This is something that the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary and others have been working on for some time now.” He added that just over 2,000 British nationals have registered in Sudan with the Foreign Office.

UK passport-holders evacuated from Sudan will be first taken to Cyprus before being brought back to the UK, Downing Street has said.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “They will bring British nationals to Cyprus and then we will be facilitating their travel on to the UK.”

He said evacuation flights will go on for “as long as possible”, “with consideration to the risk of both UK personnel and British nationals”.

Although civil unrest in Sudan has a long history, dating back to its independence from Britain and Egypt in 1956, most of it has occurred in isolated tribal regions far from Khartoum, my colleague Alex Nelson reports.

The chaotic scenes of fighting with tanks, truck-mounted machine guns, artillery, and warplanes in densely populated areas of the capital are unprecedented.

A power struggle between General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, commander of the Sudanese armed forces, and General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, is the reason behind the sudden eruption of violence in the country.

The two were once close allies, and worked together to plan the military takeover of Sudan in October 2021, which short-circuited the country’s democratic transition. Recently, talks to resume the path towards democracy had been in progress.

Generals Burhan and Dagalo agreed to a framework agreement with political parties and pro-democracy organisations under international pressure, but the agreement was ambiguous on crucial issues of contention, like how the RSF would be incorporated into the armed force and who would have ultimate control.

The agreement’s signing was repeatedly delayed due to escalating hostilities between the two men, and now, both have remained steadfast, declaring that they will not negotiate.

A British dual national stuck in Sudan has said there is “no law and order” in Khartoum as he waits to hear from the Foreign Office about the evacuation.

Musab told the BBC’s World At One radio programme that officials had said they would firstly take elderly people, people with medical conditions and those in families.

Asked about his own situation, he said: “It all depends on the ceasefire, whether it will hold or not.

“The one thing I didn’t like is they (the Foreign Office) asked people to come to the airport which is very risky because you should have main meeting points in the specific areas people can go to and then they can get on a bus and go to the airport, but if you ask people to go the the airport by themselves its very risky.”

The Foreign Office has urged British passport holders and their family members to head to Wadi Saeedna airfield, located to the north of Khartoum, “as soon as possible” in order to board evacuation flights.

Initially, ministers said British nationals should not travel to the evacuation site until they are asked to do so by the Foreign Office.

Around 120 British military personnel are at the airfield near Khartoum to help with the evacuation effort, but reports suggest that no flights have taken off yet.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “As of 11am this morning, the processing centre, the reception team of Border Force and Foreign Office, were now up and running on the airfield in Sudan.”

He added: “Currently the airfield is run by the German military and, depending on how long they stay, we will stand ready and prepared to take over from them should they decide that their evacuation is finished.”

Sami Atabani, who lives in Cambridge, told NationalWorld late editor Amber Allott that he had been going backwards and forwards with the UK Foreign Office for days now, trying to work out how to best help seven family members in Khartoum.

He told NationalWorld these family members included his 88-year-old aunt, her 67-year-old son who is disabled, another son and his wife, and their three young children. All but his sister-in-law were British nationals.

“They’re running out of food… It’s not acceptable. You can’t leave an 88-year-old woman like this,” he said.

Mr Atabani registered them with the Foreign Office this morning, but said despite government messaging that priority would be given to the most vulnerable - including families with children and the elderly - they had not been contacted for evacuations. The family are now one of many resorting to Plan B, he said, and are currently waiting on a bus which will take them out of the city, across 1,000 kilometres to the Egyptian border.

“My cousin is incredibly distressed as to whether he’s making the right decision… He feels abandoned,” Mr Atabani said. “Their life has been completely turned upside down, but the most dangerous part is yet to come. They still need to make their way out of the city”.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said communication is “very patchy” with British dual nationals in Sudan, but insisted efforts are being made “where possible” to invite them to the airport.

Asked about the evacuation efforts, he told the Defence Committee: “Communication is very patchy and very small. They are being called forward by the Foreign Office.”

Wallace added that “blanket conditions” were being produced to assist people in determining whether they should head to the airport, because direct communication is proving so challenging.

Germany will end its evacuation flights on Tuesday (25 April), possibly clearing the path for British rescue flights to begin.

In a statement, Germany’s foreign ministry said the next service from Sudan to Jordan would be the last – but that German nationals would still be able to be picked up by other countries.

Germany has rescued about 490 people, a third of whom were its nationals, across five flights so far.

Once its last flight departs, Germany will relinquish control of the Wadi Saeedna airbase on the outskirts of Sudan’s capital city Khartoum, which would allow British evacuation flights to begin, according to UK Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace.

He earlier told a defence select committee that RAF flights would start “if and when the Germans leave,” explaining that Germany’s military was “running the airfield at the moment” to complete its own evacuation process.

German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said: “It was important to us that, unlike in other countries, an evacuation not only applies to our embassy staff but to all local Germans and our partners.

“Almost 500 people from 30 countries were flown out of Khartoum thanks to our support – that is a huge achievement. The fact that our citizens abroad can also rely on not being left to their own devices in an emergency is not a bureaucratic matter of course.

“It is the result of courage, teamwork and tireless dedication on the part of many hundreds of people involved in the German armed forces, the federal police and the Foreign Office.”

The first evacuation flight of British nationals has left Sudan, with two more trips expected to take place overnight, Downing Street has said.

Passengers have been taken from the Wadi Saeedna airfield on the outskirts of Khartoum and will travel to the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman has confirmed that the government expects another two flights to leave on Tuesday (25 April).

It follows the last evacuation service by the German government earlier on Tuesday, who currently remain in control of the airbase. UK forces have the “capacity” to take over if needed, government officials have said.