Andrew Marr: It's very hard to see how the Government can get Brits trapped in war-torn Sudan out safely
24 April 2023, 18:43 | Updated: 25 April 2023, 15:04
Andrew Marr has said it's very hard to see how the UK can get British nationals stuck in war-torn Sudan out of the country safely, as the Government considers evacuation options.
Speaking on Tonight with Andrew Marr, the presenter said that ministers weighing up a potential rescue mission face hard questions tonight, as the violent power struggle between Sudan's army and a rival paramilitary group continues.
He said: "Some 4,000 of our fellow citizens are stuck tonight in the middle of a vicious Civil War in Sudan and it's very hard to see how the British government can get them out safely.
"Now you may have only the vaguest idea, or no idea at all, about where Sudan is and why so many British people are there, and frankly, what it's got to do with us.
"So here are a few thoughts. Sudan’s a huge and ancient country, the third largest in Africa, whose history goes back to the pharaohs.
"For a long time it was a central part of the slave trading system of the Muslim world. From the high Victorian period – the 1880s – until 1952, Sudan was effectively British.
Andrew Marr: 'There are hard questions for ministers this evening.'
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"Remember Gordon of Kartoum? He was the British imperial general sent in 1884 to the same city from which our embassy has just been evacuated.
"Gordon’s job,140 years ago, was to evacuate 2,500 British civilians. They’d been trapped by an uprising led by a charismatic Muslim leader, Muhammed Ahmed, the Mahdi.
"After getting the civilians out, Gordon stayed on and defended the city for a year before being overrun by local forces and killed.
"Now, Sudan has been independent since Britain left that part of Africa after Egypt rose up under Nasser.
"Since then it has faced military coups, the secession of the south of the country, and a long period of brutal dictatorship which ended four years ago.
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"The fighting going on now is the result of a power struggle inside Sudan's military, with the regular army and paramilitaries fighting each other.
"It's very hard to see how the British people trapped there are going to get out now. The airport’s closed. The internet has virtually collapsed so it's difficult to get up to date messages about who is where - the British government is sending text messages.
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"Hospitals have virtually closed. Without military protection it’s simply too dangerous to be out on the street.
"Other countries - the French, Germans, Italians, Dutch and Spanish, the South Koreans and Indians - have got their people out quite effectively - but the numbers involved mostly seemed to have been far fewer.
"With so many British people in such great danger, there are hard questions for ministers this evening - the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defense are meeting at Cobra, the Government’s emergency committee, right now; and ministers will be considering all options, including whether military intervention is now needed. Reconnaissance troops have already been flown nearby."
