In the meantime, seventeen Belgians and beneficiaries (the members of the nuclear family) have already been evacuated from Sudan, where an armed conflict erupted last week. That is what Minister of Foreign Affairs Hadja Lahbib (MR) said on Tuesday in ‘De Ochtend’ on Radio 1. There are currently about twenty compatriots in the country, but a large proportion of them have not indicated that they want to leave.
Since last weekend, various countries have been working together to remove each other’s nationals from Sudan. Belgium is working with France and the Netherlands to evacuate those Europeans who wish to do so as quickly as possible.
Seventeen of the 42 Belgians and beneficiaries who, according to Foreign Affairs, have been staying in the country, have now been evacuated, says Minister Lahbib. Sixteen of them have been evacuated by air, one by road, the minister said. “There are still a few people on their way.”
“About twenty people are still on site. The majority of them indicate that they do not want to leave. So they will remain in Sudan for the time being, but we will remain in contact with them,” says Minister Lahbib.
Those evacuees were received in a safe place in the region, for example in Djibouti or Jordan, or traveled on to Europe, the minister added.
Germany
Since the night from Monday to Tuesday, the German army has been coordinating the flight movements to a military airport near Khartoum that is used as a rally point. Germany took over that assignment from France.
Fighting has been going on for more than a week in Sudan, one of the world’s poorest countries, between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Hundreds of people have already died in the conflict. The rival groups, meanwhile, agreed to a three-day ceasefire, which started at midnight.
LOOK ALSO. You should know this about the conflict in Sudan
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