“
An additional evacuation flight from Port Sudan will depart on Monday
,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday, April 30, calling on British nationals wishing to board there to go to the international airport of this city of eastern Sudan, where fighting continues.
So far, the United Kingdom has evacuated 2,122 of its citizens and their families thanks to flights set up since Tuesday from an airfield north of Khartoum, the capital, said the ministry.
The British had however announced to stop their evacuations on Saturday.
Risky evacuations
The last flight had thus taken off on Saturday evening, the government justifying its decision by the decreasing number of people going to the airfield to be evacuated and by the risk posed by the continuation of the fighting despite the ceasefire.
The charge d'affaires of Sudan in the United Kingdom, Khalid Mohammed Ali Hassan, had indicated Sunday morning that his country was "
ready to help
" London to organize new evacuation flights, questioned on Times radio.
The British criticized
The British government is widely criticized for taking longer than other countries to launch a large-scale evacuation.
The refusal to evacuate Sudanese doctors working for the British public health service (NHS) also caused an outcry, and finally about twenty of its doctors were able to board a plane.
The ministry specifies in its press release on Sunday that foreigners working for the NHS can be evacuated.
Transport Minister Mark Harper assured Sky News on Sunday that the government would maintain "
constant support
" for Britons still in the country, touting the "
very successful evacuation effort
" led by London.
The evacuation carried out by the British authorities "
is the largest and the longest of all Western countries
", insisted the Foreign Office James Cleverly, quoted in the press release.
"
Our rescue efforts are continuing from Port Sudan
," Cleverly insisted, with troops deployed there to assist Britons wishing to leave the country by sea.
Around 2,000 Britons had reported to the authorities to leave Sudan, and some fled on their own, including by road to Egypt.
