UK starts evacuating nationals from Sudan

The UK government has started evacuating British nationals from Sudan.

UK military evacuation flights are departing from an airfield outside Khartoum. One flight has already arrived in Cyprus with 39 people on board.

The evacuation flights are open to people with British passports, with priority being given to to family groups with children and/or the elderly or individuals with medical conditions.

On Tuesday, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said: "At this stage we will contact those who are eligible for evacuation directly and British nationals should not make their way to the airfield unless they are called.

"The safety of all British nationals in Sudan continues to be our utmost priority and we urge everyone to continue to follow our travel advice. The situation remains volatile and our ability to conduct evacuations could change at short notice.

"We are working with international partners to arrange this departure and thank them for their co-operation. We are also working on other potential options for helping British nationals leave Sudan, including from other points of exit."

Advice has since been updated, urging people to make their own way to the airport.

Rival military forces have been fighting for ten days in Sudan, with at least 420 people killed so far.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, chair of the foreign affairs committee Alicia Kearns said it is believed there are around 3,000-4,000 British nationals in the country. She said: "The foreign office is contacting every single British citizen who is registered. Stay tight, because outside is still not safe. Gather your belongings, get ready for the journey. Make sure you have the most signal possible.

"You don't need to rush to the airport. The Foreign Office needs to make sure you make a safe trip to the airport."

Other countries have already performed evacuations with African countries including South Africa, Kenya, Mali, Ivory Coast and Uganda announcing evacuations of their nationals.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said that more than 1,000 EU citizens have been evacuated. According to the BBC, France has already airlifted 400 people of multiple nationalities to Djibouti and The Netherlands said it had sent two planes to remove its nationals to Jordan.

Italy has said around 200 people were evacuated in a military operation on Sunday, rescuing all Italian citizens who "had asked to leave" and others including Vatican representatives.

A Spanish military plane with 100 passengers, 30 of them Spanish, and others mostly from Latin America countries, left for Djibouti on Sunday.

Image: TUBS, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons