US-brokered ceasefire ‘partially holds’ in Sudan crisis amid evacuations – live

The first British citizens were evacuated from conflict-torn Sudan on Tuesday.

A 72-hour ceasefire between the warring factions has provided a window for foreign nationals to escape a “dangerous, volatile and unpredictable” situation, according to the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Several ceasefires declared since the outbreak of fighting on April 15 have not been observed, the Associated Press reports.

Here’s a look at what we know about the evacuation plans, so far.

The doctor, who recently retired after working in the NHS for more than 30 years, was visiting family in Khartoum for Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr when fierce clashes broke out between the country’s two top generals in the city on April 15.

Her daughter and her mother, who require constant care, had been without water or electricity for five days at her brother’s house near the airport when she felt she had to move them to a safer place.

speaking to the independentHis daughter – a British doctor based in London – recounted how her father drove home at dusk last Thursday through the streets of the capital, between bodies scattered on the roads.

Calling herself Dr. A to protect the family in Sudan, she said: “They started shooting at the car first. My father kept going, but then he stopped because the shots were coming from everywhere.

Sudanese refugees arriving in the UK on small boats you will have “come here illegally” and face deportation, brave sole Has confirmed.

The Interior Minister said that those fleeing the conflict in Sudan would be detained and could be transferred to Rwanda under the government’s Illegal Migration Bill.

“There is no good reason for someone to get on a small boat and cross the channel looking for a life in the UK,” Braverman said when asked what will happen to Sudanese asylum seekers who arrive in the country.

Interior Minister Suella Braverman said between 200 and 300 people had been evacuated from Sudan so far as part of the airlift.

She told Sky News: “We have started an evacuation mission in the last 24 to 48 hours and we expect there to be approximately 200 to 300 people who have been relocated from Sudan in the last few flights.

“We are now starting an extensive operation, working with more than 1,000 people from the RAF and the armed forces.”

He defended the UK’s response, saying the government had to deal with a “larger cohort of British citizens in Sudan compared to many other countries”.

The first evacuation flights carrying British citizens have taken off from Sudan as UK troops prepare to take over the running of the airfield.

Two Royal Air Force planes touched down at Larnaca airport in Cyprus at 6:30am on Wednesday, and the first chartered flight back to London is scheduled to depart later that day.

Families with young children were among the first flights to land in Cyprus with a British man telling the BBC his sister, who left Sudan overnight, felt an overwhelming sense of relief.

Three planes were due to have left conflict-torn Khartoum for Cyprus on Wednesday morning, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowing “many more” to follow, as he warned of a “critical” 24 hours.

Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Britain would take over the Wadi Saeedna airstrip near the capital from German forces, after Berlin said its last evacuation flight would leave on Tuesday for the night.

“There is no good reason” for “anyone” to cross the Channel in search of a new life in the UK, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said as she faced questions about the Sudan crisis.

Speaking to Sky News, Ms Braverman also said it was not inevitable that Sudanese would try to flee to Britain as their country collapses amid ongoing conflict.

Nearly 4,000 Sudanese have arrived in the UK on small boats since 2018, according to official figures. More comments from the Minister of the Interior below:

A terrified pregnant British woman stranded in war-torn Sudan with her family fears she could give birth at any moment as they struggle to flee the country.

The woman’s older sister, Saryah Elwasila, 29, said the family of five, who were in the country visiting relatives for Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr when fierce fighting broke out, were forced to flee Khartoum. to the city of Wad Madani in the neighboring state. of Gezira, without food, energy, fuel, very little water and money. There is also no working hospital nearby if the woman goes into labor after many were bombed and doctors fled.

The family has twice been robbed by looters who are raiding abandoned areas, leaving them with only their passports, a small amount of money and the clothes they were wearing.

The British government announced Tuesday morning that it would start evacuation flights for British citizens from Sudan following an agreed 72-hour ceasefire, but Elwasila said his family had not heard from British authorities. Running out of fuel, they fear they have lost their last chance to escape.

Hundreds of foreign nationals have been safely evacuated from Sudan, where continued fighting threatens to plunge the African country into deeper chaos.

The son of a British citizen trying to escape Sudan has said his family has had “very limited” contact with the Home Office.

Saleh El-Khalifa, whose mother is trying to flee Sudan with her elderly father, said the Interior Ministry’s advice to stay at home had not been a “viable option”.

His mother was forced to make a trip to Port Sudan with his 86-year-old father, who is terminally ill and trying to cross the border into Saudi Arabia, he said.

Khalifa told BBC Breakfast the trip was “more than challenging” and information from the Home Office had been “very limited”, adding: “There could be points where I can’t talk to her for a day or two. “.

“The first few days, my sister and I tried to communicate (with the Home Office). The advice was the same, stay at the gates and not move. That was not a viable option as there was no guarantee of your safety by staying at home”. a location

“That is why most people have had to move to ensure their own lives and safety, which is a situation that no one should have to be in.

“It’s now at the point where my mum might be trying to get into Saudi Arabia as she thinks it would be a safer route back to the UK rather than being told at the last minute where these flights are taking off.”

“We heard about one of the first flights yesterday that was only on the ground for less than half an hour and location sharing was minimal.

“Even if my mother had been told the right time, the time she would have had to get there would have been almost impossible.”

Ahmed Haroun, a former Sudanese official who served under Omar al-Bashir and is wanted by the International Criminal Court, said he and other former Bashir government officials had been released from Kober prison and would take responsibility for their own protection. .

Haroun also said they were ready to appear before the judiciary as long as it was up and running, in a statement broadcast on Sudan’s Tayba TV on Tuesday.

The statement comes after reports that inmates at the Kober prison, which held Bashir and other senior lawmakers, had escaped earlier this week. It was not immediately clear if Bashir, who has spent extended periods in a military hospital, was in prison.