Foreign powers bail out their nationals while Sudanese are left to fend for themselves

(CNN) — Foreign powers have rescued their embassy staff and their citizens trapped in deadly fighting in Sudan, though many Sudanese on the ground find themselves trapped in worsening conditions.

US special forces helped bring nearly 100 people to safety on Saturday, mostly US embassy staff, as well as a small number of diplomatic professionals from other countries, US officials said.

Many other countries are striving to do the same, and more than 1,000 European Union citizens have been evacuated so far.

Evacuations have been complicated by ongoing fighting. The two sides in more than a week of fighting – the Sudanese army and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – blamed each other after a French evacuation convoy was shot at while trying to leave Sudan, injuring people. a French citizen.

A staff member of the Egyptian embassy in Sudan was also shot during an evacuation operation, according to the Cairo Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Meanwhile, many Sudanese civilians find themselves stuck at home with dwindling food, or desperately seeking routes out of the country across its land borders, with the capital’s main international airport still closed.

The wave of operations came on the ninth day of fighting in Khartoum.

Sudan’s military leader, General Abdul Fattah al-Burhan, and RSF commander, Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, seized control of the country in a 2021 military coup and were due to hand over power to a civilian government, but were they faced each other.

More than 420 people have been killed and 3,700 injured in the fighting, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The humanitarian situation on the ground is deteriorating, with no access to medical services and many people stranded without food or water.

Several ceasefires have been broken, including the latest, called for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

Residents in parts of Khartoum told CNN early Sunday morning that there was no indication the cessation of hostilities was being respected, as they woke up to airstrikes, heavy artillery, explosions and gunfire. They said that clashes were taking place around the military headquarters and the presidential palace, in the center of the city.

“Complex and fast” operations

Despite the grave risks, foreign governments continue to announce rescue missions to get their citizens out.

American citizens in Sudan were told on Sunday that they could join evacuation convoys organized by the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.

There are an estimated 16,000 US citizens in Sudan, most with dual nationality.

Germany carries out evacuations of citizens out of Sudan. (Credit: German Defense Ministry)

Some countries have already carried out successful evacuations, including the UK, Spain, Jordan, Italy, France, Denmark and Germany. Several of its convoys also transported citizens of other countries, such as Sweden, Portugal, Mexico, Palestine, Iraq and Syria.

Several have new rounds of evacuations planned. More evacuations are still planned or underway in the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Germany, Sweden, Egypt, Turkey, Libya, India, Russia, Australia, Japan, China, and the Philippines.

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said Monday that more than 1,000 EU citizens have been evacuated so far, calling it a “successful operation.”

“It’s been a long weekend, a long intense weekend trying to get our people out of Sudan,” Borrell said, thanking France in particular for getting other non-French foreigners out.

“Stay and risk starvation or a stray bullet”

Yet as foreigners rush out on evacuation planes, millions of Sudanese citizens have been left to fend for themselves, trapped for days in their homes and not knowing how to get to safety.

Isma’il Kushkush, a Sudanese-American journalist based in Khartoum, was trapped for days with 29 residents, including children and foreigners, in a building in downtown Khartoum near the presidential palace.

“Without electricity or water for five days. Using the little water that remains in the tank. Without food rations. Without being able to leave the building, located two blocks from the presidential palace. Epicenter of fighting since the conflict began,” he said in a chain of text messages to CNN. Later, the group was evacuated safely.

In neighborhood WhatsApp group chats and on social media, others were deliberating where to get water, charge phones, find medical help and find safe passages out of Khartoum without fighting. Many asked for advice on routes to Egypt by public transport.

A woman in her 30s, who asked not to be named for security reasons, told CNN that she had managed to flee Khartoum by bus to Egypt.

She said she was prompted to do so by the RSF’s unpredictability and worsening conditions in the capital.

Although his family had a generator and could supply water to houses in their neighbourhood, it was not clear how long they could hold out or when the tide of fighting might carry the fighters to their doorsteps.

“It was a matter of staying and risking starvation. Or dying from a stray bullet? … We decided to take the risk,” he said, adding that he had heard of people dying in their homes without food or water. “We thought we were easy prey by sheltering in our homes.”

A group of their relatives, including two babies and an elderly woman with a serious illness, found a bus driver willing to take them to Egypt. They left on Friday morning and arrived at the border on Saturday night; the group was only arrested once by the Sudanese armed forces in Omdurman, he recounted.

But they had difficulty getting men without visas into Egypt, and some people without passports – including newborn babies – were turned away.

“They had to stay behind. And we’re still trying to figure out how to get them the papers to cross the border,” he said.

— Sandi Sidhu, Lauren Kent, Kylie Atwood, Xiaofei Xu, Joseph Ataman, Al Goodman, Heather Chen, Sugam Pokharel, Duarte Mendonça, Eyad Kourdi, Gul Tuysuz, and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.