Tuesday, October 31, 2023

UK Military Team Sent to Sudan as Evacuation Options Weighed

Date:

A small British military reconnaissance team is currently in Sudan to assess evacuation options for UK passport holders, as pressure mounts on the government to rescue more nationals. Defence Minister James Heappey confirmed the presence of troops, but no evacuation plan has yet been announced. On Sunday, the UK airlifted diplomats and their families out of Sudan in a military operation.

However, thousands of UK passport holders remain in the country, where hundreds have died amid street gun battles. Violence broke out on 15 April, primarily in the capital city Khartoum, between rival military factions battling for control of Africa’s third largest country. Around 4,000 UK citizens are thought to be in Sudan and 2,000 of them have already requested help, Foreign Office Minister Andrew Mitchell told MPs on Tuesday.

Hundreds of people have been airlifted from Sudan by other countries, including more than 1,000 by European Union nations. Five British people were among nearly 200 people evacuated by Saudi Arabia. Some UK nationals have said they felt abandoned by the government. Amar Osman, a British citizen from Dunfermline in Fife, told the BBC he feared his family would die in Sudan unless they could get themselves out after becoming trapped north of the capital.

News of a 72 hour ceasefire due to come into effect from midnight on Tuesday will raise hopes that a mass evacuation may be more feasible, but previous agreements between the warring parties have failed to hold. The BBC understands a small military team landed in Port Sudan, more than 500 miles from Khartoum, to assess potential routes out. Work is under way to provide the Prime Minister with several options, defence sources said, and it is understood two Royal Navy ships are already in the region – the frigate HMS Lancaster which was already at sea, and supply ship RFA Cardigan Bay which is in Bahrain where it was undergoing maintenance.

Mr Mitchell urged anyone trapped in Sudan to stay indoors where possible but to “exercise their own judgement about whether to relocate”, adding they “do so at their own risk”. He told the Commons that Khartoum’s main airport, where there has been fighting in recent days, was “out of action”. Energy and communications were disrupted, while food and water were becoming “increasingly scarce”, he said.

Defence sources told the BBC any Sudan evacuation would be more difficult than the August 2021 Afghanistan airlift, due to fighting around the capital and an absence of troops already on the ground. Khartoum is “more dynamic, more dangerous” than Kabul was at the time, they said, with armed clashes happening “in the neighbourhoods where western nationals are most heavily concentrated”.

Commenting on the advice being issued to people trapped in Sudan, the defence source added: “If you tell people to stay at home they may be less likely to get shot. But the availability of food and water in the city is increasingly limited. If you tell people to leave home it’s towards safety. Then they get closer to food and water but they might be at increased risk.”

Responding to questions from MPs, Mr Mitchell also confirmed that neither the UK’s ambassador to Sudan nor the deputy head of mission were in the country when the conflict began. A team of 200 officials is working around the clock in the Foreign Office to provide consular assistance to those who need it, and regular updates are being issued, he added.

British doctor Iman Abu Gargar told the BBC she was able to leave with the French evacuation because Irish passport holders, including her son, were able to join. She said she felt left behind by the UK and was forced to leave her father there.

Some MPs have put pressure on the government to speed up efforts, including Alicia Kearns, the Tory chairwoman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, who said “time is running out”. Labour’s shadow minister for Africa, Lyn Brown, said what people trapped in Sudan need to hear “is a clear plan on how the government will support those still in danger and how they will communicate with them and when”.

A successful operation to rescue diplomats and their families was carried out over the weekend, after gun battles broke out around the embassy in Khartoum. The BBC understands that UK special forces troops landed in Khartoum on Saturday alongside the US evacuation team. Military vehicles were used to rescue embassy staff and transport them to an airport outside the capital, before they were flown to Cyprus. Around 1,200 personnel from the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force were involved in the rescue, and a C-130 Hercules and Airbus A400M transport aircraft were used.

Mr Heappey said that while the embassy rescue mission “went without a hitch” despite its complexity, “the job isn’t done”. He admitted that the UK had been caught off guard by the rapid deterioration in Sudan and added: “It is fair to say that nobody in the UK government nor really in the wider international community saw fighting of this ferocity breaking out in the way that it did.”

Around 400 UK nationals in Sudan hold only a British passport, while about 4,000 more are dual citizens, Mr Mitchell told the Commons. Another Cobra meeting – an emergency response committee made up of ministers, civil servants and others – was held on Monday to discuss the situation. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a meeting of the UN Security Council that the situation in Sudan was worsening and the country was on “the edge of the abyss”.

Sudan has experienced a near total internet outage in recent days, but BBC Monitoring reported that some connectivity was returning on Monday night. A small British military reconnaissance team has been dispatched to Sudan to assess evacuation options for UK passport holders as pressure mounts on the government to rescue more nationals. Defence Minister James Heappey confirmed troops are present but no evacuation plan has yet been announced.

On Sunday, a military operation airlifted diplomats and their families out of Sudan. However, thousands of UK passport holders remain in the country where hundreds have died amid street gun battles. Around 4,000 UK citizens are thought to be in Sudan and 2,000 have already requested help according to Foreign Office Minister Andrew Mitchell.

Hundreds of people have been airlifted from Sudan by other countries including more than 1,000 by European Union nations and five British people by Saudi Arabia. Some UK nationals have expressed feeling abandoned by their government.

News of a 72 hour ceasefire due to come into effect from midnight on Tuesday will raise hopes that a mass evacuation may be more feasible but previous agreements between warring parties have failed to hold. A small military team has landed in Port Sudan more than 500 miles from Khartoum to assess potential routes out while two Royal Navy ships are already in the region – HMS Lancaster and RFA Cardigan Bay.

Mr Mitchell urged anyone trapped in Sudan to stay indoors where possible but warned they do so at their own risk as energy and communications are disrupted and food and water are becoming increasingly scarce. Defence sources said any Sudan evacuation would be more difficult than Afghanistan due to fighting around Khartoum and an absence of troops already on the ground.

Commenting on advice being issued to people trapped in Sudan, a defence source said: “If you tell people to stay at home they may be less likely to get shot. But the availability of food and water in the city is increasingly limited. If you tell people to leave home it’s towards safety. Then they get closer to food and water but they might be at increased risk.”

Responding to questions from MPs Mr Mitchell also confirmed that neither the UK’s ambassador nor deputy head of mission were in Sudan when conflict began. A team of 200 officials is providing consular assistance while some MPs have put pressure on government to speed up efforts.

A successful operation rescued diplomats and their families over weekend with UK special forces troops landing in Khartoum alongside US evacuation team. Around 1,200 personnel from Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force were involved with a C-130 Hercules and Airbus A400M transport aircraft used for evacuation.

Around 400 UK nationals hold only a British passport while 4,000 more are dual citizens according to Mr Mitchell. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told UN Security Council that situation in Sudan was worsening and country was on “the edge of abyss” while internet connectivity has been returning slowly since Monday night.

Latest stories