CIVILIANS SPEAK OF SUDAN ESCAPE AS FIGHTING RAGES
▶ Saudis evacuate 1,700 people of 50 nationalities ▶ Deposed leader Al Bashir moved from jail to hospital ▶ Paramilitary RSF claims to have seized major refinery
Evacuees from the conflict in Sudan told of their relief to escape and fears for those left behind after arriving in Jeddah yesterday as part of a Saudi rescue of 1,700 people.
Two ships from the Port of Sudan docked in the kingdom carrying people from 50 countries to safety. The vast majority of those fleeing the battle-scarred country were foreigners and the evacuation was one of the largest so far, as governments around the world scramble to save stranded citizens.
The latest rescue takes the total brought to Saudi Arabia to more than 2,000.
“We all arrived safely at around 2am,” Bhupendra, one of 278 Indians who arrived in Jeddah on board a naval warship in the early hours of the morning, told The National.
“The Indian and Saudi staff welcomed us and provided breakfast.
“Then our immigration was completed and they sent us to a school, where they have arranged a stay for all Indians.
“Wi-Fi is also available here, so at least people can contact their family.”
Bhupendra and his cohort will briefly stay at the International Indian School in Jeddah, which is being used as a transit facility, before flying back to India on a military transport plane.
They will be joined by 256 people evacuated in two batches on an Indian Air Force military transport plane from Port Sudan, about 800km from the capital Khartoum.
Others fretted over those left behind.
“I had the chance to leave, not like my sisters,” said a tearful Wissam Moustafa, who holds an American passport, as she disembarked a hulking commercial ship in Jeddah.
“I don’t know whether they will be able to get out.”
However, the mass rescue also brought pride at a job well done, with hundreds now out of harm’s way.
“I am Saudi holding the greatest passport in the world thanks to god,” one man told
the Saudi Press Agency as he disembarked, waving his green Saudi passport. “This passport today is a matter of pride. As you can see, all the nations are represented on this vessel which makes me very proud. If you are Saudi you will never be left behind with this government behind you. Our government made us proud.” The UN said the death toll in the conflict has exceeded 500, and the WHO was warning of “many more” deaths from disease and lack of medical and other services. WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that only 16 per cent of health facilities in Khartoum were functioning. “In continuation of the evacuation efforts made by the kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the directives of the kingdom’s leadership, several evacuees arrived from the Republic of Sudan to the city of Jeddah,” the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. That number “included 13 Saudis and 1,674 [other] individuals”, the statement said. The operation brings the total number of people evacuated from Sudan by Saudi Arabia to 2,148, including 114 Saudis and more than 2,000 others from 62 nationalities, the Foreign Ministry said.
One of the largest contingents of people evacuated by Saudi authorities were from Indonesia, whose Foreign Ministry confirmed that 550 citizens had been rescued.
Sri Lanka said that 13 of its citizens had arrived in Jeddah and another 12 were awaiting evacuation in Port Sudan.
The Saudi state-affiliated Al Ekhbariya channel broadcast footage of passengers waving the green Saudi flag as they disembarked, as well as Saudi security forces carrying babies off the boat.
In one clip, an evacuee hugs members of the Saudi military, thanking them through tears as he exits one of the ships in Jeddah.
In another, a woman remarks: “I am coming to Saudi Arabia ... Congratulations to me, congratulations to me”.
Evacuees began arriving in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, with boats carrying 150 people including foreign diplomats and officials.
On Monday, a C-130 Hercules military plane flew dozens of South Korean civilians to Jeddah’s King Abdullah Air Base, and a boat ferried about 200 people from 14 countries across the Red Sea from Port Sudan.