'We've been abandoned': 4,000 Brits stranded in war-ravaged Sudan beg for government help after SAS rescues diplomats

24 April 2023, 08:40 | Updated: 24 April 2023, 09:51

As many as 4,000 Brits could be caught up in the war in Sudan as the government faces pressure to evacuate citizens while other nations' rescue missions are carried out.

European nations are working to remove their citizens with Germany so far having flown out 313 people, and the Dutch also carrying out at least one successful rescue flight. An Irish rescue flight is also in the pipeline.

French and Italian rescue flights have also been launched - sending citizens to nearby Djibouti.

Fears remain for many UK nationals still trapped in the Sudanese capital Khartoum. Brits hunkering down in the city have been told to rely on a telephone hotline for updates.

Many Brits still in the country have already said they feel ‘abandoned’ by diplomats. They were told to ‘shelter in place’ while elsewhere a ‘complex’ rescue operation with British special forces saw Britain’s embassy staff evacuated.

Alicia Kearns, the chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said: "I suspect that we are on well over a thousand who wish to be evacuated. But sometimes these are large families. I suspect we could be looking at 3,000, 4,000 plus."

The Sudanese Junior Doctors Association UK said it is aware of 71 Sudanese NHS doctors, who are British citizens or residents, “currently trapped” in Sudan because of the “ongoing conflict”.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said UK government remained "absolutely committed to supporting" Britons in Sudan but warned that without an end to the fighting, ministers were "severely limited in our ability to provide assistance to British nationals".

Ireland is sending in special forces to evacuate civilians in the coming days - amid reports of rogue soldiers randomly raiding people’s homes.

Writer Roman Ahmed said: “If there is no plan to get me out, please say why? We have received no information as to our evacuation.

“I am only alive by the grace of God and the strength of my family members.

“But we are terrified to a point where we have gone numb.

“As a British national, I haven’t heard anything from the British embassy. This has been the most harrowing experience of my life. I need to understand why we are still here.”

Speaking from Khartoum, a British citizen - a teacher named William, who did not give his last name, said: “I’m sitting in my chair in my living room, listening to a background of shooting probably 3km away.

"I’m as safe as anybody can be in Khartoum at the moment. I’ve been here six years. The end game is here now. We feel we need to get out. We’re very concerned there is nothing happening [in terms of an evacuation plan] it seems.

“We don’t know if this is some wonderful cunning plan that the British government is pursuing."

“It is an extremely concerning situation that’s deteriorating further and further. And the imperative is to get out of Khartoum.”PM Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Mr Cleverly said the UK would continue to act as a broker for a peace deal in Sudan.

Sam, a British businessman living in Sudan, said the UK evacuation “gave us hope, but in the absence of any information from the government this was clearly a solution for diplomats only”.

British special forces carried out a dramatic night-time rescue of British diplomats and their families amid the fierce fighting in the county.

Late on Saturday night, a team of elite Royal Marines, SAS and Royal Air Force operatives flew into the capital Khartoum on a American military aircraft.

It's understood that once they landed, they got hold of a number of local vehicles and drove into the city.

They then sought out around two dozen British diplomats and their families who had been holed up in an area of Khartoum located in the regular and paramilitary forces fighting for control of the city.

It proved challenging for the troops to reach, with fears that if the fighting became too intense more soldiers and aircraft and would be needed to provide backup.

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Despite this, the team managed to drive a group of around 30, including children, to an airfield 18 miles outside of the city, after passing through several checkpoints, the Mail reports.

They then boarded two Royal Air Force transport planes that had arrived from a British military base in Cyprus and took the evacuees to safety in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed on Sunday the UK army had completed the "rapid and complex" evacuation, saying there had been a "significant escalation in violence and threats to embassy staff".

"I pay tribute to the commitment of our diplomats and bravery of the military personnel who carried out this difficult operation," Mr Sunak tweeted.

"We are continuing to pursue every avenue to end the bloodshed in Sudan and ensure the safety of British nationals remaining in the country.

"I urge the parties to lay down their arms and implement an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to ensure civilians can leave conflict zones."

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the evacuees were taken overnight to an airfield outside of the capital, Khartoum, to be flown out of the country.

Violence between the country's regular army and paramilitary force Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted in Sudan last week, with shooting and shelling seen in the capital.

There is little electricity and supplies of food and water are running out for many.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the decision to evacuate staff was made due to "specific threats and violence directed towards diplomats".

He said that relocating the embassy to a nearby country, would mean diplomats could give more assistance to those in Sudan.

But he said admitted the government's ability to move out other British nationals was "severely limited" until fighting between the two groups ceased.

The UK government previously said it is "doing everything possible" to support British nationals currently in Sudan as fighting in the African nation rages on.

Mr Sunak chaired a COBRA meeting on Saturday morning amid the continued fighting, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has confirmed.

Mr Wallace and Africa minister Andrew Mitchell were also in attendance.

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Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said there were "specific threats and violence directed towards diplomats" which led to the decision to evacuate staff.

He said that by relocating the embassy to a nearby country, diplomats could provide more assistance to those in Sudan.

But he admitted that government's ability to move out other British nationals was "severely limited" until fighting between the regular army and paramilitary ceased.

A spokesperson for the government said: "We recognise that the situation is extremely concerning for British nationals trapped by the fighting in Sudan.

"We are doing everything possible to support British nationals and diplomatic staff in Khartoum, and the Ministry of Defence is working with the Foreign Office to prepare for a number of contingencies."

There were also two COBRA meetings on Friday.

While opposing forces were allies and seized power in 2021, tensions have increased over the proposed integration of the paramilitary forces into the Sudanese military.