The evacuation of the European Union delegation in Sudan begins

The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Egypt, Belgium or the Netherlands begin operations on the ground to get their nationals out following the trail of the US and Saudi Arabia

23 (EUROPA PRESS)

Around a dozen countries and international organizations have begun operations on the ground in the last few hours to get their citizens out of the capital of Sudan, Khartoum, plunged into a spiral of violence due to the fighting that began a week ago between the Army Sudanese and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Egypt, Belgium or 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 air bridge Sudan-Djibouti or by land, crossing in convoys the approximately 600 kilometers that separate the capital from the coastal city of Port Sudan.

Jordanian transport boats are already on the country’s coast to complete the evacuation process for its 300 nationals announced yesterday by the authorities, while the Egyptian Foreign Ministry has also confirmed the evacuation by land of 436 citizens.

For example, six Canadian diplomats were among the group evacuated by US special forces from Khartoum this morning, according to sources close to the operation to the newspaper ‘The New York Times’, while the Government of Canada announced the transfer of officials from the Embassy to “a safe place outside the country.”

The French government has not yet ruled on what could be the most serious incident during the first hours of the evacuation: an alleged attack by the Sudanese Army denounced by the RSF that would have caused injuries to a French citizen, sources told Le Monde close to the operation.

One of the most notable evacuations has been the one carried out by the United Kingdom, which has led an operation that has involved more than 1,200 military personnel in coordination with the United States, France and other allies. The German Ministry of Defense has also assured that “within the possibilities, the mission will also evacuate European citizens and other nationalities.”

In the same way, and according to ‘NYT’ sources, a long UN convoy has begun the journey from the capital to the city of Port Sudan in the last few hours. The convoy, made up of dozens of buses and vans with UN personnel and international aid groups, have begun the journey of more than 600 kilometers that separates both cities.

The European Union has also announced this Sunday the beginning of the evacuation of its delegation in Sudan, as the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, has made known. “I am relieved to say that the European Union delegation in Sudan is being evacuated safely,” announced the top European diplomat.

A particular case has been that of the evacuation of the Italians, announced by the paramilitary forces themselves on their Twitter account. “The Rapid Support Forces successfully evacuated 41 Italian citizens and embassy staff from Khartoum on Sunday night. The mission was carried out with the utmost professionalism and efficiency, guaranteeing security and protection,” the officials have reported. paramilitaries.

In later statements collected by ‘La Stampa’, the Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, has limited himself to confirming the ongoing evacuation of “all Italian citizens who have asked to leave Sudan” and anticipated that they would be back in their country Tomorrow is Monday.

Countries like Greece, India or South Korea are also finalizing their preparations. Ireland, in the last hours, has approved the deployment of a mission of its Emergency Civil Assistance Team (ECAT) that will arrive in Djibouti today.

Also in the last few hours, the Chinese government has announced that it is considering the evacuation of its citizens in Sudan, with the opening of a web page for those nationals who wish to leave the country to register, although at the moment it is not openly proposing an extraction operation .