Extra evacuation flights to rescue Britons stranded in Sudan

Additional flights are set to depart from Port Sudan on 3 May

Extra evacuation flights to rescue British nationals stranded in Sudan have been announced by the UK government.

Any Britons left in the war-torn country have been told to leave through Port Sudan on the country’s east coast, which has become a hub for several foreign countries organising evacuations, or via land borders into neighbouring countries.

“Additional flights will depart from Port Sudan on 3 May”, the UK government confirmed in a statement issued via Twitter on Tuesday evening.

Personnel from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) prepare aid kits for Sudanese refugees from the Tandelti area who crossed into Chad, in Koufroun, near Echbara, on April 30, 2023 (AFP/Getty)

“British nationals still wishing to leave the country should go to the Coral Hotel in Port Sudan by 10:00 Sudan time tomorrow. No further flights will leave from Port Sudan.”

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly further tweeted: “After the successful evacuation of 2341 people on 28 flights, the last UK flight is expected to leave Port Sudan tomorrow.”

Those looking to flee the nation were previously told by the Foreign Office that they had until 11am on Monday to reach the city to be within a chance of boarding one of two final flights.

According to flight tracking websites, a Hercules plane left the airport at 6.43pm local time on Monday. An Airbus Atlas aircraft was scheduled to depart at 10.10pm local time.

The evacuees from the later flight arrived at Birmingham Airport at 4.58pm on Tuesday after a four-hour and 40-minute flight from Larnaca, Cyprus, greeted by members of the British Red Cross.

The RAF has helped an additional 1,000 nationals from over 20 other countries, including the Republic of Ireland, Switzerland and Norway, with the UK’s evacuation effort being the longest and largest of any western nation, according to the FCDO.

Tens of thousands of people have fled or been evacuated from the African nation since fighting erupted three weeks ago, turning the capital Khartoum and a neighbouring city, Omdurman, into a battlefield.

Sudan’s military, led by General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, is fighting a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces, commanded by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, both of whom have powerful foreign backers.

The two generals were allies in a military coup which took over the country in October 2021 and halted the country’s move to establish a democratic government. The current conflict is the culmination of months of increasing tension between the two groups.

Despite a three-day extension to a ceasefire being agreed on Sunday, hundreds are believed to have been killed in the fighting.