Sudan crisis: Ottawa eyes ‘departure assistance’ to get Canadians out – National | Globalnews.ca

Ottawa is exploring options for “departure assistance” to get Canadians stuck in Sudan out of the conflict-ridden nation, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says.

Two rival generals have battled for control of Africa’s third-largest country since April 15. The fighting between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group has seen at least 420 people killed.

Furthermore, the conflict has stranded thousands of foreigners, including diplomats and aid workers.

“Canadians in #Sudan: We are exploring options regarding departure assistance in collaboration with like-minded countries and the international community for as soon as conditions allow,” Joly said in a Twitter post Monday morning.

Ottawa temporarily suspended diplomatic operations in Sudan on Sunday. The Canadian embassy in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital city, which was physically closed on April 17 but technically remained in operation, will resume operations once it is safe to do so, Global Affairs Canada said. For now, Canadian diplomats posted in Sudan are working temporarily outside of the country.

There is no word yet about any Canadian citizens evacuated from Sudan: at least 1,596 are registered with Global Affairs Canada, but officials stress that is just an estimate because registration is voluntary.

Joly encouraged registration in her Monday morning tweet. Anyone needing consular services is being told contact the government’s Emergency Watch and Response Centre in Ottawa.

Global Affairs Canada’s Standing Rapid Deployment Team (SRDT) was sent to nearby Djibouti late last week “to enhance our ability to support and to further assess the needs on the ground.”

The Canadian government had already updated its travel advisory for Sudan on April 16, advising Canadians to avoid all travel to the country.

Canada aside, many nations are rushing to get their citizens and diplomatic staff out of Sudan.

2:01
‘No law and order’: Calgary man who lived in Sudan worries for friends in Khartoum

A German air force plane with 101 people evacuated from Sudan landed in Berlin early Monday; Sweden said that all of its embassy staff in Khartoum, their families and an unspecified number of other Swedes had been evacuated to nearby Djibouti.

Swedish military planes and personnel would continue to help in the evacuation of foreign nationals as long as the security situation allowed, the country said.

Several evacuations are by air. Others are via Port Sudan on the Red Sea, which is about 650 kilometres northeast of Khartoum, but is about 800 kilometres by road.

The German air force has flown out 311 people so far from an airfield near Khartoum, the military said, and the first batch was brought back to Berlin on Monday aboard an Airbus A321 from the Al Azrak base in Jordan, which is being used as a hub for the evacuation operation.

The German military did not provide a break-down of how many of those evacuated were German citizens or nationals from other countries.

The U.S. military airlifted embassy officials out of Sudan on Sunday; U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also confirmed on Twitter early Sunday that British armed forces “have completed a complex and rapid evacuation of British diplomats and their families from Sudan.”

The fighting in Sudan has triggered a humanitarian crisis in the impoverished country, where millions of people have been left without access to basic services. It comes four years after long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir was toppled.

The army and Rapid Support Forces jointly staged a coup in 2021, but fell out during negotiations to integrate the two groups and form a civilian government. The rivalry has raised the risk of a wider conflict that could draw in outside powers.

— with files from Global News’ Saba Aziz and Reuters

&copy 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.