Borrell confirms that more than a thousand Europeans have already been repatriated from Sudan

BRUSSELS, 24 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, confirmed on Monday the repatriation of a thousand Europeans from Sudan, including 21 people from the EU diplomatic delegation in the country, whose capital, Khartoum, is the scene of fighting between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

In statements before the meeting of European foreign ministers in Luxembourg, the head of European diplomacy has indicated that the evacuation of EU nationals from Sudan this weekend has been a “complex” but “successful” operation.

“First, 21 workers from the EU embassy are already in Europe and many other EU nationals are already outside Sudan. I cannot give exact data but more than a thousand people, of course,” he assured.

In this sense, he thanked the coordination of the Member States to evacuate European citizens in the most efficient way, specifically France for helping to repatriate workers from the European delegation in Khartoum.

Regarding the European diplomatic presence, the High Representative has indicated that the community ambassador, Aidan O’Hara, whose residence was assaulted last week by a group of armed men, is still in the country, although he has left Khartoum. “The ambassador remains but in another place. The captain is the last to leave the ship,” he said about his continuity in Sudan.

The head of Foreign Affairs of the EU has detailed that in recent days he has maintained contacts with neighboring countries and different actors in the crisis in Sudan, including the head of the Army, Abdelfatá al Burhan, and the paramilitary leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, alias ‘Hemedti’. “Now the ceasefire is over and we have to keep pushing for a political agreement. We cannot allow Sudan to implode because it would have repercussions throughout Africa,” Borrell warned.

The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Egypt, Belgium, Canada and the Netherlands have announced the start of their respective evacuation processes, sometimes individual, sometimes concerted, after the operations carried out in the last few hours by Saudi Arabia and the United States , either by airlift Sudan-Djibouti or by land, crossing in convoys the approximately 600 kilometers that separate the capital from the coastal city of Port Sudan.